Kill or be Killed
by Writer with bad Grammar T-T
Summary: If people got himself reincarnated into anime World they will try their best to fix the plot into better one. Me? Sorry but I'm not noble man, far from it. This is World where you will be kill or be killed. A World where you teach 8 years old children how to taking life of other. And one thing that sure though, I will be the one who kill. SI!Warn:Bad grammar! Prolog-Chap21 edited!
1. Prologue

**This Chapter had been edited by ILoveReadingAndWriting! Enjoy your reading and hope you love the new grammar!**

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**Prologue**

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I don't know what happened. The last thing I remember is drowning in a sea, a wild sea.

Damn, I'm pretty sure I saw a shark swimming toward me to eat me since I was bleeding.

It was damn bitch, there was a group of terrorists barging onto my ship, killing the captain so that no one could escape or try to steer the ship.

Sadly, I was the captain... So one bullet straight to my right chest and I got thrown out to sea.

Then I see shark come at me with an open jaw.

Bye-bye, living world...

So now it was very reasonable that I found myself gawking while staring at a piece of broken mirror that was latched on a wall, showing someone's reflection...

It was a boy... He looked so young... Probably around four... He had light brown, messy hair, and pale, milky skin. He was wearing a dirty green shirt with black shorts and had bare feet.

The boy was skinny – not skinny like a skeleton or malnutrition child, but quite slim... He was healthy at least.

But that was not the thing that caught my attention...

It was his eyes...

They were crimson red with black pupils and one tomoe on each eye.

It took another moment for me to realize that the boy in the reflection was actually me.

So I did the only logical thing I could think to: I smashed my head into the mirror to make sure it wasn't a dream...

I yelped as I felt pain soar to my forehead; a warm sensation immediately struck my head where it crashed into the mirror.

I winced as I felt pain in my head and I held it immediately. It was clearly bleeding since I could feel a warm liquid seeping through my fingers and flowing down to my nose.

Okay, maybe that method was too extreme and I only needed to pinch myself, but seriously, my head still wasn't clear. I mean, come on! Last I remembered, I was 6,4 feet tall and had red hair! Not some midget with brown hair and a pair of almighty eyes!

I took a moment to take a deep breath and calm myself. After few inhales and exhales of air I found myself calming down. 'Be cool, be cool. You are an adult, so act like one.'

I tilted my head and began to look at everything around me. I needed to find out where I was first. It turns out I was in some kind of room... Yeah, and there were also many beds. In fact, this room was very big...

Almost like... an orphanage...

I took another deep breath before sitting down and crossing my legs.

Okay, I'm not a religious person, but I know well enough about reincarnation or something like that. So apparently after I died I was reincarnated.

I opened my eyes again and tried to find a large piece of the broken mirror that had been broken by my forehead earlier. I found one and picked it up before staring at my eyes.

They were still crimson with black pupils and rings, and one tomoe on each eye. I could tell my sight was... Strange... I stared down at my hand and noticed there was some... Blue... Blue aura that flowed in my hands.

Oh my God...

Red eyes with one tomoe... And a blue aura that was flowing within my body...

It's official... I'm in Naruto's World...

And I'm also an Uchiha...

With that realization, I did what most people would have done...

I fainted.

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It was one hour later that I awoke, and when I awoke I found myself in a different room, this one almost like a hospital room.

It turned out I was right. I was in an orphanage and the matron apparently panicked when she found one of her children laying on the floor with blood flowing out of his forehead.

Somehow, I don't know how, I could speak Japanese. When I tried to speak in English or my native language, it was Japanese that came out. I was grateful for that since it meant I didn't need to study a new language. It would suck to stay mute.

Anyway when I awoke, I was able to use that chance to make an excuse for my illness. I said I forgot everything and the matron immediately called the doctor or medical ninja.

It took everything I had to not faint again. I mean, come on! Waking up and finding you're in Naruto's World is not something you could accept with ease!

This world is brutal beyond anything! Killing and fighting happened everyday! Fuck!

So now, I found myself staring at some grown up man who was wearing a white outfit complete with a hat, his hand glowing green whilst placed on my forehead.

After a moment he removed his hand and turned to the matron.

"Haru-kun here is fine, it's true he might have amnesia, but there's not any damage done to his brain," the medic-nin said.

"Then what about his memory loss?" The matron asked.

"It won't be much of a problem," the medic nin answered "A child's brain is still soft and doesn't contain anything necessary save for memories of his playmates or things like that. While it's true there's a chance his memory won't return forever, it won't affect his life very much."

I must agree with the medic-nin, if I had children who had amnesia at my current age, I wouldn't panic too much. All I needed to do is let him/her grow back, heck! He/she even could be molded and treated better!

"But still... Should I bring the Yamanaka?"

At the mention of Yamanaka, I immediately froze. Oh hell no! I don't want to go to them! Those freaky mind-possessing ninja! Stay away from my mind! Just imagining what they would find in my head already makes me shudder! Their reaction when they find out I was an adult and reincarnated into this body...

Thankfully the medic-nin seemed to disagree as he shook his head.

"I wouldn't suggest you to do that. Like I said, a child's mind is fragile. It's dangerous to play with a child's mind: one mistake can cause fatal damage. Even if the Yamanaka is an expert there's still a big chance Haru-kun's mind is not strong enough and it would make him fall into coma or destroy his mind."

The matron immediately paled and I inwardly let out sigh of relief. Thanks whatever Deity there is in this World! If I got sent to the Yamanaka I don't know what would happen!

The matron and the medic-nin then left the room. I guess they probably continued their conversation. Meanwhile, I began to think about my situation.

'I have the Sharingan, which makes me an Uchiha, and Yamanaka are also where I live. There's no doubt I'm in Konoha now, and seeing my current condition, I had no doubt I must be an abandoned child or the child of a whore. I mean, I'm an Uchiha, so there's no way I live in an orphanage! The Uchiha Clan will adopt me and bring me to their place! Which means the Uchiha family is not aware that I exist.'

Good...

That was very good...

'If I recall correctly, that is clan planning a coup d'etat and will be massacred later. I must avoid them as best as I can. I don't know what age I'm in now, but it's best if I stay away from them.

'It's better if they don't know about my existence. That will make things much simpler.'

And now to another thing...

What should I do?

While it's true it would be honorable and noble of me if I helped to fix this world since I have so much knowledge about the future, there's one problem.

I don't care...

I mean, why I should help these people? True it would be kind and noble, but why? I have no reason, nor would I get something by doing that...

But then, something crossed in my mind.

In my previous life, my life was normal... Very normal, in fact, to the point that I was boring.

Now I have a new life... a life where I have fore-knowledge of the events to come... A life where I know everything...

I don't know whether I did it consciously or not, but a wicked smile crossed my face.

In this world... exists something that should not touched by any mortal... Something that could even make you ascend from a human to become something that compared to a Demigod...

I already had part of its power: the Sharingan. But I don't want it... these eyes... they're not enough, not to mention I will go blind since I have no sibling or someone with whom I have strong blood ties. So after I awakened Mangekyo, I was destinied to be blind...

But... Those eyes...

Those famous eyes...

The Rinnegan...

I'm an Uchiha by blood; the moment I plant those eyes in mine, I can active and deactivated it, unlike Nagato who can't. And no one will suspicious.

Madara is a fool to give the Rinnegan to Nagato... The moment Nagato die s after his battle with Naruto, I will visit Ame and pluck out those eyes! And as Uchiha, I can use it to gain full power! A power that is able to knock down a Bijuu with a single glance!

Yes... the Rinnegan...

Those eyes would be the cure for mine...

I wanted those eyes...

I would have those eyes...

"Haru-kun?"

I broke out of my thoughts when the matron called me again. The matron was a woman around her thirties. She had long brown hair and brown eyes.

"Yes, Ma'am?" I asked.

The woman stared at me with strange look, as if she just witnessed something scary. It took me a moment to realize that this woman just saw my expression before.

Was my face really that scary?

"Why don't you go outside? Make new friends..." She said with a strained smile and I nodded.

I immediately leapt down from my bed before walking out. This was good chance, as now I could see what age it currently was.

Did I land in Kakashi's generation? Jiraiya's? Hiruzen's? Konohamaru's? Itachi's? Or Naruto's? Hopefully I'm in Naruto's generation!

As I walked out of the orphanage I immediately tried to find the Hokage Monument, and to my relief, there were four faces! This meant I was in the Fourth Hokag's reign or in cannon already!

Good, good. Not far from anything I know, even if I'm not in cannon I still can-

My mind paused when I noticed there was a group of children that were playing. They were happily laughing while chasing each other, but that wasn't what caught my attention.

It was the lone figure who was on the swing...

Amongst all of the cheer and happiness that happened around the children, a lone figure sat on the swing with a gloomy look.

I would never forget the figure... Blonde hair, wearing white t-shirt and black shorts.

I couldn't stop the grin that spread on my face when I saw Naruto Uzumaki swinging alone. Apparently I also landed in cannon time.

Perfect... Perfect... It's soo perfect...

I lifted my foot and took a step forward, walking past any children and approaching the supposed main character in this world.

Why do I say "supposed"?

Because, the moment I entered this World, this was not about Naruto Uzumaki anymore... it was about me, Haru Uchiha...

I stopped in front of Naruto and he rose his head to see me, bright cerulean blue meeting my raven black.

I smiled at him and lifted my hand up.

"The name's Haru, want to be my friend?"

* * *

A few months later:

"Come on Haru! You have to eat in that place!" Naruto said as he was now practically pulling my arm.

It'd been afew months since I met and started to be friends with Naruto. The little blonde immediately latched to me like I would be gone tomorrow the moment we began our friendship, and I couldn't help but feel a slight pity for him.

"Slow down, Naruto," I responded while keeping my speed same as his.

Everyday in Orphanage there was no one playing with Naruto. The Matron, while not physically abusive, bad-mouthed about Naruto and he was one of the children that were not on her favorite list.

Not on the favorite list = no extra food = got treated coldly.

At first there were a few children who joined us, but the number was reduced since most children were afraid when the Matron glared at Naruto and treated him coldly. Finally no one would be friends with him save for me, since I would practically brush off the woman's glare.

The glares did not just stop in there. It was just few weeks ago that me and Naruto were permitted to leave the Orphanage. As soon we went out into the street, people at first stared at us and then the stare turned to dirty glare the moment they recognized Naruto.

Naruto tried his best to ignore them but I could tell he was still disturbed? Me? I'm not disturbed, why? I'm an adult already, I don't need their attention or their cold glares, and I don't give a shit about what they're thinking.

I only have one goal, and it was also not an honorable one, so why should I need to act kind to them? It was very pitiable and stupid to think there were some glares that came from Shinobi.

Really?

Really?

Surely they knew the difference between a scroll and a kunai right?

Anyway, being close with Naruto had advantages. When Naruto wasn't with me or had his own matters to attend to – such as when he got called upon by the Hokage – I was alone: left alone precisely.

In that lonely time, I could turn on my Sharingan and practice by myself.

The thing that I trained most was my chakra control. That thing is absolutely necessary, and I had to master it. I didn't know much about chakra, but activing Sharingan was like raising two loads on your hands, and the longer I used it, the more strained my eyes and brain became.

Thus far, I was already able to do the leaf exercise: balancing leaf on my forehead. While the Sharingan not as detailed as the Byakugan, it was still able to see the flow of chakra. That was very helping in training.

I broke out of my thoughts when Naruto pulled me again and I winced slightly. "Naruto! Slow down!" I groaned out. "It's not like this place will be gone anyway!" I grumbled.

"I know!" Naruto said with grin. "But this time Jiji is there! And he's going to treat us! We don't need to waste money for extra food!" He yelled.

Ah, yes. As orphans we were given an orphan allowance of course. It wasn't large and was only enough to buy one lunch box for each day. I saved my money, of course, and Naruto also followed my act. We rarely spent our money and ate only in the orphanage, though Naruto spent it sometimes since he would go out to meet the Hokage.

Wait... Did Naruto just say Jiji?

"Jiji?" I blurted in shock.

"Yep! Jiji said this time I should bring you! He wants to meet you!" Naruto declared with big grin.

Oh shit... Oh shit, oh shit! Hokage wants to meet me?! Damn what should I do?! I knew I would meet him soon, but when it was mentioned like this I wasn't ready!

Okay, okay first calm down. Do not panic, remember, do not panic. I won't be able to act like a child, that was very clear since the Sandaime would be able to see right through it, but...

I can act like that...

While inwardly I began to forming plan, outside I only furrowed my eyebrows.

"Jiji? The one who always visits you every two weeks?" I asked.

"Yep!" Naruto grinned. "Come on! We already near!" He said before he pull me again, and I only followed him silently.

It wasn't long before we got near and I could see the place. As I expected, it was Ichiraku's Ramen. Inwardly I deadpanned. While it's true that ramen is delicious, it'ss not healthy.

I decide to pull a joke a little when I saw we were near. I could see the white robe of the Hokage inside Ichiraku's.

"Naruto," I said and I stopped, silently channeling chakra to my legs and making Naruto also stop since he couldn't pull me. No seriously, I had to do this or I would be pulled by him. This boy's strength is quite something for someone at his age. "This Jiji of yours... He's not some pervert who tries to molest children right?"

"WHAT?!" Naruto squeaked out. A blush immediately erupted on his face and I somehow could tell Hiruzen's eyes twitched, even if I couldn't see it. "No way! Jiji's not like that! He is a kind man! He always treats me to good food and talks nice to me! He also gives me extra money!"

"That's what perverts always do!" I replied. "They're kind to children, give them money and treat them nicely. But one day they began to touch you in an EWW place!" I emphasized the eww with high pitched tone like a child and I heard a laugh clearly come from Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, probably Teuchi.

Naruto meanwhile began to sputter and talk incoherently. I only grunted before grabbing his hand and beginning to pull him.

"Come on, Naruto! I will have a talk with this Jiji of yours!" I stated as I walked into Ichiraku's.

As soon I arrived, I entered the place and immediately put on a childish act.

"Which one of you is the Jiji that touches Naruto?!" I demanded hotly while inwardly holding my laugh. That I just insulted the Hokage and got away with it is something cool! I mean, this is Hiruzen Sarutobi! The Second God of Shinobi, the man who led Konoha in the Second and Third Shinobi Wars and survived damnit!

The only reason he lost against Orochimaru is because he used Edo Tensei. If he were facing Hiruzen one-on-one, I had no doubt that even in his old age Hiruzen would still beat him down and succeed in using Shiki Fujin!

I turned and saw there were only two people inside Ichiraku's. The first was obviously Teuchi, who wore his chef outfit, and the second was...

The moment I laid my eyes on Hiruzen Sarutobi, I felt a strange sensation come from him. It was the sensation you found when you stood in the presence of your boss or superior, and for a moment I couldn't help but marvel at the old ninja. Even in his old age he still radiated the aura of a superior individual.

Hiruzen, who saw me, gave me smile, although I could see it was forced a little. "Ah, you must be Haru-kun...," he greeted.

I snapped out of my daze as I stared at him smiling down at me. Inwardly, I took deep breath and prepared myself for the coming event.

It was time to act...

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**Another SI fanfic, yeah. This time I made another OC, you could said I made this one because I inspired by "A World full of Monster" by Fahad09**

**If you don't know about it then I suggest you read it, it was pretty damn good**

**As for my OC, yes he is some kind of abandoned children of Uchiha who dead in Kyuubi attack, the woman he sleep with is a prostitute who abandon Haru to Orphanage after that**

**Such thing actually possible if you think in logical manner, however most children at their age when reawaken Sharingan will be noticed and send to Uchiha clan**

**Haru meanwhile is not, he adult and he know what will happen so he decide to hide himself, that what make he different from the other**

**He already awaken Sharingan, having death situation and got yourself shredded apart by shark is somethign that not pleasant mind you, clearly it give him trauma and stress on his mind. That's why his Sharingan immediately awaken, even Sasuke also awaken his but he never remember it because his trauma is on another level**

**And before you comment yes I know my grammar is bad to the point you almost can't read it and make you wish to gouge out your eyes, and I admit it with very big shame it really that bad **

**I won't deny if there someone who wish to become Beta Reader, please PM me immediately your Email since I'm not one who used connecting document**

**That's all for now please give me Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	2. Meeting with God of Shinobi

**This Chapter had been edited by ILoveReadingAndWriting! Enjoy your reading and hope you love the new grammar!**

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**Chapter 1. Meeting with Go****d of Shinobi**

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Hiruzen Sarutobi was curious about this Haru boy that Naruto told him of...

A few months ago when he picked up Naruto, the blonde child was different. Unlike the times when he picked him before where the Jinchuuriki seemed depressed, the boy this time seemed happy. Very happy in fact...

When they began their talk, he found out that Naruto finally made a friend – and not just a normal friend, a friend who would stay by his side for more than a few weeks. Usually the children that stayed with Naruto would only befriend him for few days before they began to stray away from him thanks to the civilians who also visited the orphanage.

He inwardly couldn't help but feel sad to see his successor's legacy treated like dirt. It wasn't like he was the one who blabbered about it. Somehow, someone just spilled Naruto's secret to the civilians and thus made this happen.

Anyway, back on track. When Naruto told him about Haru, he was actually happy the blonde finally found a friend for a long time. As Hokage, he was busy while taking care of the village, especially after the Kyuubi attack, and it meant he couldn't spend much time with Naruto. He only could come and visit him once every two weeks, heck! Sometimes not even for longer!

So he was really glad that Naruto found someone that would spend time with him like children always should. However despite the relief he felt, he also couldn't help but be wary.

It was without doubt – which he admitted with shame – that someone at Naruto's age was going to shun him or bully him due to following their friends and the examples of older people. It was in their nature as children, after all, to follow what older people did.

So despite the relief he had when he finally found out that Naruto had a friend he also couldn't help but feel something was wrong. At first he thought maybe this Haru boy was going to shun Naruto, but when Naruto told him that Haru defended him when the adults yelled at Naruto…

That was clearly not a normal thing for a child to do...

And also there was the accident where the boy seemed to trip and hit his head, then he got amnesia afterward. According to the matron, the boy before the accident was quite cheerful and, like other children, avoided Naruto.

But after that accident, the boy began to talk with Naruto and then became his friend. His attitude also did a complete 180°, something that was very suspicious in Hiruzen's eyes. Children wouldn't changed that much even if he got amnesia. That's why he called upon this Haru child. He wanted to see what kind of person he was.

"Waiting for Naruto, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen smiled at the chef of Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, who cooking the ramen.

"Yes, I already told him to meet me at this time." Hiruzen chuckled and Teuchi also laughed.

"Don't worry Hokage-sama. Naruto may only come here a few times, but I know well the face of someone who love smy ramen so much. He will be in here anytime when you mention ramen!" Teuchi stated and Hiruzen only nodded in agreement.

He started to bring Naruto to this place one month ago since his parents love to come here. And dear God, Naruto may have his father's looks, but he clearly possessed his mother's appetite. What kind of child could eat three bowls of ramen in less than twenty minutes?!

"Come on, Haru!"

Ah, speak of the devil... that was Naruto's voice. Hiruzen stood and was about to greet Naruto, however he paused when heard another voice.

"Naruto..." The voice, despite being high-pitched like a child, was notably solemn. "This Jiji of yours... He's not some pervert who tries to molest children right?"

Hearing that, Hiruzen couldn't help it when his eyes twitched. He had been called many things, even demon when at war due to his strength, but this was the first time someone remarked on him being a pervert and tring to molest children.

He threw a slight glare to Teuchi who snickered, but the chef ignored it.

"WHAT?!" Naruto squeaked out. "No way! Jiji's not like that! He is a kind man! He always treats me to good food and talks nice to me! He also gives me extra money!"

Despite being glad that Naruto defended him, Hiruzen somehow still had a feeling that it clearly wasn't a good thing.

"That's what perverts always do!" Haru replied. "They're kind to children, give them money and treat them nicely. But one day they began to touch you in an EWW place!"

This time it took everything Hiruzen had to not burst out and yell at the Haru boy. What he just said was practically a big insult! This was the first time he was insulted about molesting little children! Teuchi, meanwhile, did not hide his amusement and exploded into laughter.

"Well, Hokage-sama, *snicker* if he puts it that way, it isn't wrong! I mean, why would someone like the Hokage want to spend time with a shunned boy?" Teuchi asked with a bark of laughter.

"Shut up..." Hiruzen grumbled with a slight blush, he don't have any good retort after all. Not if he wanted to keep the secret about Naruto.

He and Teuchi then heard the footsteps and voices getting closer. Then a boy burst into the bar, his expression one of annoyance.

"Which one of you is the Jiji that touches Naruto?!" He demanded hotly as he began to look around, and Hiruzen immediately met his face.

The boy had pale milky skin, a trait that wasn't rare in Konoha actually. His hair color was light brown with a shaggy style. He was wearing a short-sleeved, plain, dark-green t-shirt and dark brown shorts, along with blue sandals. He was carrying a blue backpack on his back.

The moment Hiruzen saw the boy, he saw the boy's eyes change from angry to something else... The eyes that Hiruzen always saw when he was in the battlefield and was leading his army.

This boy clearly knew who he was. Granted it'ss true that he is the Hokage and it's logical to assume that everyone knows him, but not that kind of knowing. This boy knew what Hiruzen went through. That's why there one emotion on his eyes:

Admiration.

Then he remembered what this boy said about him and can't help but feel annoyance. He put on his best smile, though it was strained a little, and greeted him "Ah, you must be Haru-kun..."

Hiruzen saw the boy snap out of his dazed state. The boy seemed to be holding his breath for a moment before a blush adorned his face.

"Y-You are...," Haru stuttered with wide eyes, "H-Hokage-sama!" He squeaked in shock.

Hiruzen only smiled at him, this boy was clearly nervous by his tone.

"Jiji! Haru said you are a pervert who is going to molest me!" Naruto immediately butt in. "You're not are you?"

Hiruzen could only sweatdropp at the question, but before he could comment, he saw Haru snap his neck quickly to Naruto.

"Jiji?! Naruto! This is Hokage-sama we talking about! Show some respect!" Haru chided immediately.

"Eh?! Why should I?! Jiji is Jiji!" Naruto replied with a whine and Haru smacked his head once.

"Fool! Don't you know who this man is?! This is the Sandaime Hokage! This is the living God of Shinobi!" Haru shouted and Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.

Okay, most children shouldn't know about that.

"God of Shinobi?" Naruto asked while tilting his head to the side.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi, is the man who led Konoha in two Shinobi Wars and survived! He is also the teacher of the famous **Densetsu no Sannin! (Legendary Three Ninja)**. This man is also called Professor for mastering over a thousand techniques and having wisdom and knowledge that surpasses everyone in Konoha!"

Okay, now that got Hiruzen's attention. A normal boy shouldn't be aware of that knowledge. Sure, that knowledge was recorded in books at the library as public information, but most boys never bothered to read to that extent.

While Naruto stared at him in new light, Haru turned to him before he... fell to his knees?

Hiruzen practically blinked as now Haru was kneeling with his forehead touched to the ground in posture that people used when bowing to a God.

"My Lord!" Haru exclaimed, "I can't say how happy and honored I am to finally meet you! I'm your biggest fan!"

It took everything Hiruzen had to not gape like fish after hearing Haru's declaration. Naruto, at Haru's side, openly gawked at the other boy. Honored and happy? A fanboy?

Sure, Hiruzen had fanboys and dealt with them. Children practically also worshiped him but,... this was the first time a children was openly bowing to him.

"Err, Haru-kun while I'm happy you honor this old man, you don't need to take it to this level." Hiruzen said as he tried to make the boy stand.

"Nonsense!" Haru snapped and stared at him. "To stand in front of a living legend like you! It is the greatest honor for an orphan like me!" Haru declared before bowing again and making Hiruzen sweatdrop.

Okay... It was official, this boy seemed fanatic enough seeing he was acting like this. Maybe this was the reason he knew so much about him.

"Fine, my boy. Then please do this legendary man a favor and stand okay?" Hiruzen chuckled, and in that instant, Haru immediately stood firm.

"Naruto! Bow to Sandaime-sama!" Haru yelled while trying to make the boy bow.

"No way! I'm not bowing like you! That was ex-ex-exarrated! Haru! Oi stop it!"

"It was exaggerated you fool! Now bow to him!"

Hiruzen must admit he was quite amused seeing both boys act like this. It wasn't often you saw Naruto get himself lectured like this.

"Okay, Haru-kun, Naruto-kun that's enough. Why don't both of you sit now so we can began to eat?" Hiruzen decided to interject.

Both boys immediately stopped their antics before nodding and begining to sit at the bar. The boy – Haru – kept stealing glances to him like he some kind of God and he inwardly couldn't help but feel amused. It had been quite some time for someone to see him like that.

"Teuchi-Oji!" Naruto greeted the chef who smiled at him.

"Hello Naruto, I see you brought your friend. Who are you little man?" Teuchi asked with grin.

"My name is Haru. It's nice to meet you." Haru said in a polite manner while bowing.

"Hahaha! It's good to see Naruto has a friend. My name is Teuchi. You can call me the same like Naruto if you want," Teuchi replied with laugh. "So, what is your order?"

"I will take miso ramen," Hiruzen said.

"Me too! I want three bowls!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm.

"Naruto, that's too much!" Haru immediately chided. "Two bowl max!"

"Eh?! But I want three!"

"I don't care! You have to eat healthy food! It's already bad enough you get little nutrients from the orphanage so I don't want you to eat too many unhealthy foods." Haru lectured before turning to Teuchi. "No offense Teuchi-san, but surely you know that for someone at our age ramen is actually not the best food." He said in an honest tone.

"I know what you mean and I don't take any offense." Teuchi chuckled. "So two bowls for Naruto then, and what's your order?" He asked while Naruto grumbled under his breath with a pout.

"Pork ramen and six dumplings..., Haru stated, making Teuchi furrow his eyebrows. "I love dumplings." He added with a sheepish grin.

"Fine then! Three miso ramen, one pork ramen and six dumplings coming soon!" Teuchi said as he began to work.

"Naruto, why don't you go wash your hands first before eating?" Hiruzen asked.

"But my hands are clean!" Naruto said while showing his hands and Haru on his side rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, just follow what Hokage-sama said." Haru added. Naruto gave a glare to Haru but nodded nonetheless as he leapt down from his chair and went to the bathroom at the bar behind the table.

Haru was about to follow him, but before he was able to do that, Hiruzen decided to begin their talk.

"So Haru-kun, I've heard about you from Naruto." Hiruzen said with a smile, and Haru put on a sheepish look.

"Whatever he said is a lie because he's upset I stuff many vegetables into his food!" Haru immediately responded and Hiruzen sweatdropped.

"Not need to worry, Haru-kun. I just want to know why you're so close to Naruto?" Hiruzen said to get to the point immediately. He knew this child must be aware of Naruto's treatment. So why did he keep close to him?

"Huh?" Haru asked with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Haru-kun, as much I hate to say this, surely you're aware of Naruto's treatment right?" Hiruzen asked again and Haru put on a thoughtful face.

"Ah, I understand what you mean, my Lord." Haru said, and Hiruzen must admit the tittle of "my Lord" was starting to bother him. "To be honest my Lord, I am actually curious about him..."

"Curious?"

"Yes... You see, my Lord, I don't remember anything before I got amnesia. At first, I wanted to forget about it and begin to play like the other children. However, I remembered what the medic nin said about me. He said something about the memory I lost not being important" Haru explained and paused to take a breath and let Hiruzen process what he said. "And when I remembered that, I began to think. If I act like normal, then I will do the things that are not important again. There must be a reason I forgot them all, so why should I have to repeat it?" He turned his head and stared at where Naruto went. "And then I saw Naruto among all children, I saw he was isolated and alone. So I decided to approach him and find out why he was alone. I was thinking maybe he had some problem with the other children, but I couldn't find the problem. In fact, he didn't have one. The matron treats him badly, so other children do too, but Naruto actually never acts naughty or is bad to everyone. All of them simply hate him, and I want to know why? I'm curious about him..."

The moment Haru finished, Hiruzen's mind was already alert. A boy like Haru is a child who should not born in this peaceful era. He was aware that children are very curious, and Haru acts like one, but the problem is that his curiosity is something that surpasses any child's at his age.

And there was one boy that acted similar to Haru when he was young and still an innocent child.

The boy that now became one of his greatest mistakes and regrets.

Orochimaru...

"Haru-kun... are you telling me you befriended Naruto-kun because you are only curious about him?" Hiruzen asked in a slightly worried tone.

"My Lord! Of course not!" Haru immediately responded as he snapped his neck to him and his face expressed pure horror. "I... I admit at first I was curious about him, but when I began to get close to him, I saw him as something else... He's... my friend and I..." He blushed slightly and avoided his gaze. "I must admit, he may be like a brother to me. Though I never had one, I can't help but to think of him as one.." He said in shy manner.

Hiruzen inwardly let out a sigh of relief at that statement. So this boy befriended Naruto not because he wanted to study him, well at least not anymore. He was afraid he'd have to separate Naruto from his first true friend. The boy already suffered enough and he couldn't imagine Naruto's reaction if he got his friend pulled away from him.

But still, that didn't make Hiruzen completely relieved. This boy's mindset really reminded him of his former student. While true his attitude was more bright than that of Orochimaru, mindset is something that is far more dangerous and can affect the attitude greatly.

"My Lord, if I may ask. Why does Naruto get treated so badly?" Haru asked. "Is it connected to his parents? Perhaps his parents were missing-nin?"

Hiruzen let out a sigh at the question. Naruto also always bothered him about that and he always gave some answer that was easy to be accepted by a child. However Haru was different, Hiruzen could see Haru wouldn't be fooled as easily.

If Haru really was like Orochimaru at his age, then he'd have to play this carefully.

"Haru-kun, sometimes it's best if you don't know anything rather than knowing it. Trust me, when the time comes, you will find out. I guarantee you that..." Hiruzen said with a stern look.

Haru only stared at him with more curiosity, but Hiruzen could see there was something strange in the boy's face that he couldn't decipher. He nodded slowly, accepting the answer.

"If you say so, my Lord." Haru said.

Their conversation ended in there as silence fell between them. Haru immediately excused himself since he wanted to wash his hands too.

Hiruzen only stared at Haru's back as he disappeared from his sight with skeptical look. That boy was not as kind as he appeared in front of Naruto, he could see that. The boy thirsted for something; there was something he desired, Hiruzen could see that, and it wasn't like most children at his age. This boy thirsted for something that went beyond even ninja at his age.

But despite that desire, this boy did not hesitate to make bonds and a friendship. That was what made him and Orochimaru different. Orochimaru was pretty much a lone wolf in his childhood, but Haru was not.

Well he was also a lone wolf, but seeing Naruto at his side made Hiruzen realize that they were different.

He let out sigh after a moment. Hopefully there wouldn't be a second Orochimaru born in this era.

* * *

Later:

"Man! I'm full!" Naruto said with a big grin while patting his bulging belly. "Ichiraku Ramen is so awesome!" he declared.

"You shouldn't eat so much ramen, Naruto. I admit it was delicious," I said and I was honest. Ramen from Ichiraku beat all ramen I'd ever eaten in my previous life! "But it's not healthy!"

"But it's so delicious!" Naruto whined. "I don't want eat healthy food like vegetables!"

"If you do not eat vegetables you will stay as midget" I said while rolling my eyes.

"I'm not!" Naruto pouted.

"Naruto, you are the shortest person in the orphanage," I deadpanned and he gave me a glare. I only ruffled his hair with a slight smile and he swatted away my hand like always. "Anyway, I have a gift for you."

"Gift?" Naruto asked and his angry gone, turned to interest. "Wow! What is it? What is it?" he asked eagerly with enthusiasm.

In response, I lifted my backpack before placing it on the ground. I began to rummage in my bag and search for something. Now where is it? If I recall I place it in- aha!

"Tada~~~!" I pulled out the gift and his eyes widened at the sight.

"Is that..." He trailed off with awe in his voice.

"Yup! A set of tools for training to become a ninja!" I declared proudly while giving him the pack. "It was quite expensive, actually, but my savings amounted to quite a lot."

The gift I gave to Naruto was a toy set of kunai and shuriken, but they could be used as practice tools. During our conversation when we eat at Ichiraku before, Naruto began bragging about being a Shinobi. Afterward, Hiruzen began asking about whether I also wanted to become a Shinobi, which I answered with a "yes."

And so it was decided that me and Naruto would enter the academy when we were six. Naruto's birthday is the tenth of October, mine is the fourteenth of March, and we were both five years old currently. Next year we would be six and we were going to enroll in the academy.

Speaking about the conversation before, I must say I acted pretty well. I knew I couldn't hide too much in front of Hiruzen, and that during our first meeting he would try to interrogate me.

I was aware he would be able to see if I was lying or not, so I decided to tell him the truth, well half truth precisely.

Behaving like a fanatical fanboy was also an act, but my impression about him is genuine and honest. I truly think of Hiruzen that highly, so I had no problem expressing it, and I also added a little sugar to it.

Anyway, back on track, I already bought several things for our training before enrolling in the academy. I doubted Hiruzen was going to forbid us if we wished to borrow some place for training. It was because we were practically orphans from civilian families and giving Naruto's nature as a Jinchuuriki, he was also going to be happy if Naruto had progress or got stronger.

"Haru..." Naruto said in a low voice while holding the pack of training ninja tools.

"With this, we can start our training. All we need to do is find place to practice and-"

"This is awesome!" Naruto exclaimed before he tackled me, and I let out a loud 'Omphf'. I had to push chakra into my feet so I didn't fall; this kid is damn strong! "Thank you Haru! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Oi, oi! It's just a toy, not need to act like it was God's gift!" I said as I held his head and tried to separate him from me.

"But this is the second time someone gave me a present!" Naruto declared as he pulled himself away while holding the gift and my eyes widened at that statement. "The first one was from Jiji. You're the second person who's given a present to me." He said in a soft tone.

I couldn't help but softenen my features as I stared at him. After spending several months with him, I was being honest when I said I grew fond of Naruto. This child was practically almost a brother/son to me depending on how you saw it since I actually was a 30-year-old man in a five-year-old's body.

This boy had nothing but me and Hokage. Heck! The Hokage was close to Naruto because the Jinchuuriki was actually related and close to a Kage; it was compulsion, after all, seeing the Jinchuuriki as a weapon no matter how you looked at it.

While I admit maybe Hiruzen was being sincere to Naruto, that doesn't change the fact that he did that to ensure Naruto's loyalty to Konoha.

I don't know where Jiraiya, who was supposed to be his godfather, was, but I have no doubt he actually should be capable of visiting Naruto at least,

I mean, come on! What about Kage Bunshin?! Sure,I can understand if he were busy handling rumors about Minato having a son or his spy network, but he at least could send a Kage Bunshin!

I let out a sigh before patting Naruto's head, and he lifted his face to meet mine, his lips quivering and his eyes quite wet, as if he was holding back tears.

"It's okay to cry, you know," I said softly, making him flinched. "I know when you cry no one cares, but that was in the past. Now you have me. I will be there to protect you, heck! I will be there to wipe your tears." I told him as I gazed to his blue eyes that they were now shimmering due to tears.

He sniffed few times before he launched himself at me again while crying. I only extended my arms and engulfed him in a hug. Children aren't supposed to hide their pain, they are supposed to cry when they're sad, be angry when they're upset, and laugh when they feel joy.

Hiding your pain like this... It won't be good, it won't disappear... It will only be buried and turned into hatred if you keep holding it back.

So cry Naruto... Cry... Let it out...

"Let it out..." I said softly as I pat his back and he kept wailing on my chest.

While I admit, I was being sympathetic to Naruto, deep inside I knew I did this also to manipulate him. I won't deny it, but having Naruto on my side would be very useful in future. The moment I became his best friend and his brother figure, I would have a strong position in Konoha.

It took a few moments for Naruto to calm down. I only smiled to him as he rubbed his teary eyes.

"Let's find a place to train now. It's still noon, after all, so we can practice until the evening," I said and he grinned.

"I will become an amazing ninja, 'ttebayo!" he declared while pumping his fist in the air. "Come on Haru! I know a place where we can train!"

"You do?" I asked in surprise and he nodded before running away.

"Follow me!"

"Oi Naruto! Slow down!" I shouted when I saw him ran off like someone that just ate too much sugar. Really that child was something else, one moment he cried, the next one he became so cheerful. I had no doubt he was actually bipolar.

As I walked to follow him, I noticed there was someone who was wearing a Police Force uniform. Uchiha Police Force precisely.

...

...

...

Sasuke Uchiha...

My lips twitched at the mention of that boy, it was decided that I would let the Uchiha Massacre happen. In fact, I wished for it to happen.

If the Uchiha were still around my position would be in danger seeing as I have the Sharingan. Right now. the Uchiha clan must be dead.

I would let it happen because there was Orochimaru out there. And with his interest on the Sharingan it would be very dangerous. I mean he only targeted Sasuke because there were no more Uchiha. Imagine if there were another one who was still alive! He would take the body immediately!

And if the Uchiha clan was still alive, Orochimaru would possess the Sharingan and damn! That was something I couldn't let happen.

And about Sasuke... I have many plans concerning him, making him loyal to Konoha would actually be very easy, and I could make it happen if I wanted to.

A little reasoning here and there, and he wouldn't be after revenge anymore. But on other hand, I could kill him and be done with it.

He had the Sharingan right? After Itachi left him, his Sharingan activated.

All I needed was to kill him and pluck out his eyes then plant them in mine. After that I would kill Itachi or wait until he was too weak due to his illness and strike him.

So many things I could do with this knowledge... So many things I could get... So many things I could change and gain...

This is... This is...

This feeling... Is this how God felt?

"Haru! Why the heck are you standing there?!"

"Ah, sorry Naruto! Coming!" I yelled as I ran to him and he resumed running, turning his back to me.

And that moment, my eyes flared red and a wicked grin appeared on my face.

I will become the next God of Shinobi... The one that will even surpass Hashirama who was only rivaled by Hagoromo... With Rinnegan at my side... Nothing could stop me...

Nothing...

* * *

Few hours later, sleeping hours:

I groaned as I lay back on my bed. Tired, exhausted, in pain, sore, you list them all. All of them were now sensations of my body.

It was easy to talk about being a God or something like that, but for God's sake it was very hard to achieve it.

I already mastered tree climbing – no, I didn't master it, but I was able to use it, there was a difference. For example, someone who mastered it, no matter how much chakra they had they still would able to do it.

I was only able to do it because my chakra reserve was small, and because it was small it was easy to control and I can easily walk on the wall due to that. And damn! It was exhausting you know.

My chakra reserve was quite large for someone at my age. Not large like Naruto's, that blonde child was BS! I mean, he even had a larger chakra reserve than most Chunin!

At the age of five! FIVE DAMNIT!

I only had a low-genin level reserve! And I trained my ass so hard in these past few months!

But despite the pain and exhaustion I felt, I never complained. I'd rather faint due to exhaustion rather than complain.

The tree climbing training was also useful. Even though I was able to do it, if I kept training and did it, it would increase my chakra reserves. Having doujutsu clearly helped! And God, I clearly loved to abuse it!

And I wouldn't protest or complain no matter what, even if the training was going to make me feel like I wanted to die, I wouldn't. If I complained at this level of training, then how was I going to become strong?

How was I going to face countless monsters out there?

Orochimaru, Nagato, Obito, Itachi and the list goes on and on. All of them were monsters on their own level... Nagato practically destroyed the whole of Konoha alone, Orochimaru killed the Fourth Kazekage and created chaos in Konoha's Invasion, Obito massacred the whole ANBU army when he went on his rampage and was able to control the Third Mizukage like a puppet.

How was I going to compete with them if I started complaining?

I didn't need friends, I only needed allies. Even if I had friends, they must be strong like Naruto, who was Jinchuuriki, or at least they must have their own benefit.

I know it was not necessary and even if I trained like normal, with my reincarnation and knowledge, I would be hailed as a genius for someone at my age.

But that was not enough...

I needed to push myself harder, I needed to surpass that normal level. I had to become a monster like them... I had to surpass them at as young an age as I can...

If Itachi was able to become the ANBU Captain at the age of thirteen, I had to become Kage level at thirteen! I knew it was impossible and absurd giving my time is a time of peace, but that didn't mean I couldn't get as close as possible to his level.

If Itachi can, then why can't I?

I'm an adult already and I have so much knowledge about this world. I also have knowledge about techniques from different anime and I can use them all to my advantage.

'I have a bigger advantage than Itachi...

'That's why... I have to be strong! Stronger than them! I have to! In order to become God! The next God of Shinobi!

'The God who-'

"URGH!" I grunted when feel someone hit my stomach. What the fuck?! I turned down and saw Naruto just stepped on my stomach! "Fuck! Naruto, get your fucking leg off of me!" I groaned as I pushed his leg away.

"ZZzzzZZZzzz," said the child who only snored at my side, and my eyes twitched.

You know the move where Naruto attacks someone while asleep? Yeah, the one where he strikes Yamato when they train to make Rasenshuriken?

Turns out it was real. It started two months ago, he started moving and twitching badly when he slept to the point he hit my head.

How the fucking bloody hell he did that is still beyond my understanding.

And again, giving the world I was in, I shouldn't be surprised. All the things people do in this world are considered to be magic in mine, after all.

But still... This had to stop! No seriously this really had to stop.

It almost happened every single damn night! Three times per week damnit!

At this rate, when he mastered the Rasengan he would do it while sleeping and shove it up my ass!

So much for daydreaming about becoming a God tonight.

"Munyaa... Ramen...," Naruto mumbled before he swung his fist at me and I blocked it with my arm.

'That's it! I don't know why the hell I never did this but starting from tomorrow I'll tie Naruto up when he sleeps! With a CHAIN!'

Seriously in name of Jashin, Kaguya, Pain and Hagoromo! I would be dead before being killed if I had to face Naruto's sleeping habit every night!

* * *

**So yeah, this is where Haru began to form his plan for the future. As you can see he already start his training and try to be stronger than anyone who at his age**

**It was simply to say, Haru will grow strong. However he won't become so Gary Stu and able to beat Kakashi at age of 12, that was practically bullshit man -_-"**

**He will able to give them challenge but that's it, no matter how strong he train he don't have experience after all**

**And about Sasuke, I already have plan for him and you will find it out later near end of first arc. **

**Haru while look good man but he still act to reach his goal. True he give kindness but the act is not purely sincere and always have secret motive**

**Pairing? That will be secret, I already have plan for that. And mind you Haru is quite manipulative person so if he pick someone as his bride it will be quite figure or someone who have big status**

**Next chapter will be enrolling in academy and Haru interaction with Rookie 9**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	3. Ninja Academy! Pt 1

**This Chapter had been edited by ILoveReadingAndWriting! Enjoy your reading and hope you love the new grammar!**

* * *

**Chapter** **2\. Ninja Academy! Pt. 1**

* * *

I stared outside through the window of our apartment with an impassive look.

Time passed quickly. Quite quickly in fact...

I almost didn't realize it due to being too absorbed in my training.

Right now I was already six years old. Naruto, meanwhile, was still five, but this year he would turn six too. And this was the year we would enroll at the academy. We already enlisted and the academy started in two weeks.

Apparently when we decide to enter Ninja Academy, Hiruzen decided to give us our own apartment. It was because there was an accident with the matron where she tried to hit Naruto when he tried to defend himself from a bully. I was doing my private training at that time so I wasn't aware.

After I heard that. I immediately used the chance and reported it to Hiruzen. Let's just say that the next day the matron was punished and we got a new apartment.

At first the offer was only for Naruto, but the blonde demanded that I come with him, and I wouldn't miss this chance, so I decide to agree and the Hokage apparently did not have a problem with that.

I already decided, no matter what, I will graduate with the Rookie 9. It's not like I planned to graduate early too anyway. There were many advantages if I graduated at same age as the Rookie 9.

First, I would be able to befriend all clan heirs. I also will know the story route better if I start from cannon.

As much I hate it now, I have to stay low. I can't graduate early because there was big chance I would meet Obito or my future enemy by accident.

Especially Zetsu.

Oh yeah, that son of bitch was a really tough one. He could sneak in anywhere and would be able to hear us. He was a very good spy.

So while I hated it, and it would weaken me since I wouldn't have battle experience like Itachi and every other monster, at least I would have the same skills, the same strength, and the same status like them.

Training is not easy, it was fucking hard. I still remembered when I tried to throw shuriken. You know Jiraiya Shuriken Whatever Jutsu? Well let's just say I performed that technique when I tried to use shuriken.

What? Don't look at me like that! Naruto also did the same! Besides that was the first time I tried throwing Shuriken! I can throw them straight already!

Anyway, I already try my best to train the shuriken jutsu, chakra control and taijutsu. For taijutsu I use Bajiquan and Karate. What? I was a practitioner of those two in my previous life, so it was just natural if I use them again here!

For jutsu, as far I know I can use **Katon : Endan (Fire Release : Flame Bullet)**. That was one of simplest fire techniques that I could learn. I guessed my affinity was fire and I wasn't surprised seeing as I come from the Uchiha clan.

Despite being only six years old, my chakra levels already reached a low chunin level. Now you all must be confused as to how could I have that amount of reserve.

Simple, I was training in the right way.

If you all want to know why Sasuke, Naruto and the whole Rookie 9 were not as strong as Kakashi's/Itachi's generation in their young age, it was because their training was flat.

Because of the peaceful times, their training, while still good, was not as harsh as it would have been during war time. It also could be considered because all the parents wanted to spend time peacefully with their children. Meanwhile, I as already aware of the advanced training and I always pushed myself. I knew the theory to perform tree walking and water walking – exercises for the genin-class mind you.

I tried my best to master those two in last two years, and in result I was able to walk on the wall like it was a daily routine.

Naruto and I were also given multiple scrolls about chakra and shuriken jutsu from Hiruzen. Naruto at first hesitated, but after a few talks with me he asked the Hokage and the old man gladly helped us. See? I told you that that old monkey practically loved Naruto!

It was actually not considered as favoritism. Naruto was a Jinchuuriki and he need to be trained. While Hiruzen's desire to help was honest, council elders like Danzo, Koharu and Homura were thinking something else. Naruto was a weapon in their eyes, so it was just a good thing he went under training to become a proper tool.

'Well sadly, he won't become your tool...'

I turned and stared at Naruto who was still sleeping and couldn't help but smile at the sight of his drooling face. Well, last night he also was training quite hard.

Naruto already mastered the leaf exercise and trust me, when we trained it took one month for Naruto to master it. Oh God, you should have heard when he was whining!

The reason why it took so long was because Naruto's chakra reserves were too massive! His chakra reserves now already could be compared to a Jonin Shinobi! Though I shouldn't be surprised seeing he could just spam a hundred or two thousand Kage Bunshin at the age of twelve, but it was still surprising to see it directly.

No wonder he couldn't graduate. He just possessed too much chakra! Henge and Kawarimi were available for him, but Bunshin was not. He had to made at least a hundred bunshin if he wished to perform the technique properly.

I stared at the mirror near my position before my eyes flashed into red: crimson red with two tomoes on one eye and while other only had one.

Mastering the Sharingan, meanwhile, was something else. It was harder than I thought, getting one extra tomoe to my right eye was very hard. I just got the new tomoe last week.

Sharingan grew to be stronger if you were traumatized. And sadly, I don't have any traumatizing experiences or anything smiliar to that.

So in order to increase the tomoes, I went through hard work and training that almost killed me. In fact, I always exhausted myself everytime I trained.

I turned off my eyes before I began to write a note for Naruto. I wanted to start my morning training, so I told him he could eat a ramen cup for breakfast and do whatever he wanted today since I would be quite busy.

When I done writing the note, I left it on the table before I went to Naruto's bed. I placed the blanket to cover him further before I went to the wall and grabbed my black jacket and red scarf then I proceeded to go out.

Oh you don't know?

It was snowy this month. I don't know how the seasons work in this world but clearly it was strange since now it was the month of March and the weather was snowy.

My outfit now consisted of a white, long-sleeved shirt and long blue pants with dark shoes. On top of it, I wore some fur gloves that covered my hands to protect them from the cold, complete with a black jacket and the red scarf.

Oh, and guess what? I also wore black sunglasses sometimes.

The sunglasses were similar to ones like Shino's in Shippuden. Why did I use them? So no one could see my Sharingan when I activated it.

I locked the apartment before pulling out the key and inserting it into my pocket, then I put on my sunglasses. I immediately activated my Sharingan and searched for our guests. 'Where is he? Ah, there he is!'

I saw there was a trail of chakra, a familiar one, in wind. It was only small, but was I able to catch it since I was accustomed to it.

Of course there would be ANBU watching us. I only caught them directly once. By any means I'm not a sensor ninja, that much was clear, but having an awareness that you were always watched seems build a bit of a sixth sense. I always tried my best to locate the ANBU that were always watching us. It could work as very good training and damn well! I couldn't always pinpoint their location, but at least I was aware they were watching me!

Oh well, it's not like I care though. They mostly only pay attention to Naruto. He is, after all, their first priority.

Shrugging, I deactivated my Sharingan and walked away. I had training to do.

* * *

Moments later:

It was when I on my way to the training field that I ended up watching a familiar scene happen.

From far, I could see three children bullying someone.

This scene actually shouldn't watched by me, but by Naruto. However it seems Naruto was too exhausted after last night's training as he was awake quite late.

"You are the one who possesses Byakugan aren't you?"

"Show me your Byakugan!"

"She's Neji cousin right? She must be cocky too!"

Yep! You all got that right.

Not far from my position was Hinata Hyuuga who was being bullied by a group of children.

Now, now I'm not a hero. I truly admit that has be so for a long time ever since I entered this world, and I'm not chivalrous like Naruto, who would go to help someone like a knight in shining armor.

However, the one who was being bullied was Hinata _Hyuuga_ mind you, a Hyuuga. One of noblest and strongest clans in Konoha.

Gaining the Hyuuga as allies would be very useful. With their Byakugan, they could help me in training.

Hinata could help me in training...

Oh yeah, that was very good. When she was able to see Tenketsu I would able to ask her to help me in advanced chakra control training.

With that on my mind, I immediately stepped forward and approached the group.

"Oi!" I yelled, getting their attention. "Leave her alone!"

The three bully children along with Hinata turned to see me, I pushed my glasses up and narrowed my eyes at them.

"What do you want?" One kid sneered at me.

"Leave her alone. She already apologized and it was more than enough," I repeated in a calm tone.

"Eh? And why should we do that? Who are you anyway to command us like that?" The other boy scoffed.

"I will be the one who beats you into the ground if you do not stay away from her," I said simply, hands still in my pockets.

The boys turned to each other before laughing at me. I simply put on a calm face, not even feeling insulted.

One boy then stared at me, his face filled with joy before it turned to annoyance after a moment. My calm face must have been annoying him.

"You know? You remind me of her cousin, Neji. Always arrogant and putting on a face like that. I think I will give you a lesson," he said before he raised his fist and attempted to punch me.

HIT!

But it wasn't me who got hit... It was him... And he got hit pretty hard too.

I stared at the boy who now crashed away roughly to the ground. His nose was bleeding and I'm pretty damn sure I broke it. It happened quite fast. When he tried to punch me I swatted away his fist before smacking my elbow into his face.

It was Bajiquan art, striking with the elbow, and if you must know, the elbow is one of most dense bones in the human body.

The boy screamed in pain while holding his nose. The other children wore shocked faces before they turned to me with angry looks.

"You!"

"I broke his nose, I will break yours too if you do not apologize to her now," I cut the boy off coldly. My expression was purely stoic – I must have gotten this from my Uchiha blood.

Both boys flinched at my tone before they turned to their friend who was still on ground and clutching his nose. Then they immediately turned around and try to flee, only for my hand grab both of their collared shirts from behind and with speed I drove both of them to the ground, smashing their faces to the dirt below. It was not strong enough to do great damage, but for someone at their age it would hurt.

"Apologize or I smack your face again," I stated while still holding them on the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Please forgive us! It hurts! Let us go!"

Both boys immediately sputtered apologies to Hinata who was still staring at me with wide eyes. Feeling satisfied, I let them go and they immediately scrambled like a horde of deer chased by a lion.

The child that got his nose broken stared at me and I merely cracked my knuckles before he yelped and ran away. I'm pretty sure he was crying.

"Moron boys trying to act almighty," I muttered before turning to Hinata. "You okay?" I asked.

Hinata, who was staring at me, seemed snap out of her daze and she began to blush. "H-Hai!" she stuttered while nodding.

As I observed Hinata more closely, I had to hold back the urge to glomp her. Dear God, I know Hinata is cute when she's a child, but seeing her directly now…

Damn! I wish I had a daughter like her in my previous life!

"A-Ano...," She stammered out. "T-Thanks for helping me."

"It's fine, I do what people must do," I chuckled inwardly at my own statement. "My name's Haru, what's yours?"

"H-Hinata. H-Hinata Hyuuga!" She said in a shy manner. Aww, she's very adorable isn't she? Naruto is adorable, but since he is mostly also annoying, sometimes I dismiss that part.

"Hyuuga? One of the two Doujutsu families in Konoha?" I asked, faking my surprise. It wouldn't fool adult, but to children, it would be convincing. "You must be pretty strong then."

The blush on her face, if possible, increased, and I swear all the snow that landed on her face was melted due to the heat. I really find her shy demeanor amusing and wish I could glomp her now.

"I-I'm not...," Hinata stuttered, shame filling her voice. I could feel it by her tone.

"Really? But that's impossible!" I stated with a scowl and Hinata stared at me with a surprised look. "I mean, you have been trained by your clan right? No matter how weak you are, if you undergo training for a long time you will be strong," I said before grinning slightly. "Block this!" I yelled.

With speed that surpassed normal civilian children, I swung my fist forward and Hinata must have reacted according to instinct. She swatted my arm away and brought her other arm close to my chest but stopped only few inches before hit.

Her eyes widened in shock and my grin widened. I was holding back a lot. I could go faster, but I needed to do this to boost her confidence.

"S-Sorry!" She squeaked out as she pulled away from me. "I-I-"

"See? You're strong," I interjected before she was able to continue. "If you were that boy before, I would've hit you, but you're not. That shows you are strong!" I praised with a slight smile.

Hinata didn't reply and instead only stared down at her feet. I could tell despite the shyness she displayed, she actually happy at my praise.

"Ah, your scarf is ruined," I stated as I noticed the tatters of her scarf. It was because I didn't help her as fast as Naruto would have. The scarf got pulled by one of bullies. Acting like a shining knight, I removed my scarf and gave it to her. "Here."

"E-Eh?" She stammered out. "B-But it's yours and-"

"I can't let you walk around freezing right? Use mine first, I will take yours," I said as I took her scarf and wrapped it around my neck. I'm not good at knitting, but the damage was not too great, so I still could fix it.

Hinata stared at me with wide eyes and a dazed look; I only smiled at her. This girl was actually cute! Damn, I want her as my personal doll! So I can pinch her cheeks and glomp her any time!

Wait...

I blinked openly as I finally noticed the scene.

Snowy day in March while close to the day we enroll at academy, and saving Hinata from bullies...

...

...

...

Holy shit! I'm in Naruto Shippuden's Last Movie scene!

Wow, I never thought I would enter one of the scenes this fast.

Man, what an epic scene.

"Anyway, Hinata-san. I can call you that right? I will be leaving now. You're enrolling at the academy right?" I asked and she nodded. "Good, I'm also going to enroll! I will return this scarf to you at our next meeting. Ja Ne!" I said before I turned around and left.

"Ah!"

Hinata seemed to want to call me but I ignored it. I knew it was better, and if I left her now, it will give her quite the impression. Like a damsel that just saved by her mysterious knight.

As I was leaving I couldn't help but smirk slightly. I got one heir to be my friend already, seven more to go...

* * *

Two weeks later:

It was a bright Monday morning.

The snow already melted weeks ago. Apparently the day I saved Hinata was the last day snow fell, and now spring had come.

It was very cool, actually, seeing spring come along with children entering the Ninja Academy, indicating the birth of a new generation.

"Come on Haru!" Naruto yelled to me excitedly. He was wearing a white t-shirt with the Uzumaki crest on his chest and short black pants that reached few centimeters above his knees. On his back was a green backpack.

"Be patient Naruto," I said as I also followed him. I was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, Shinobi gloves on both of my hands, short white pants, and blue shinobi sandals, and I also carried a blue backpack. "The academy starts in half an hour; we are too early."

"It can't be helped 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm so excited! I'm finally going to enter the Ninja Academy!" he shouted with a big grin and I sighed.

'You're enthusiasm will be like this only for now Naruto, trust me. I'm actually not looking forward to entering Academy since I can train on my own, but I have to in order to gain allies for my goal.'

I already had Hinata on my list and my next target would be either Shikamaru, Shino or Sasuke

Shikamaru, I will need his brain. It was undeniable that he will grow into avery smart and strategic ninja in the future.

Shino, he's actually very loyal guy and also the silent type. I like him, he's the type of person who does not like to talk much, just like me. And Aburame family is also one of the clans who understand Naruto's situation. They host a colony of bugs and Naruto is hosting the Kyuubi. While it was different, it was similar enough and I'm sure the Aburame family wouldn't be disturbed if Shino became friends with Naruto.

Sasuke, by being friend with him I can gain access to his training. As an Uchiha, his clan must contain many scrolls and secret techniques that they got during the Shinobi War.

Either that, or I can pluck his eyes out when his Sharingan becomes mature. There is no way he will suspect that I will strike him when we are friends.

As for Sakura and Ino? No offense, but I fail to find either of them useful for now. Sakura's family was not that big and Ino? I didn't want to deal with her if she became a fangirl. Both of them were very annoying when they became fangirls, really.

Besides, if I needed a medic-nin I could suggest Hinata to become one. Imagine, with the Byakugan and Tsunade's super strength…

Oh yeah, I think Hinata certainly would be better than Sakura. No offense, but it was a matter of talent and bloodline, and it was undeniable that Hinata would become stronger than Sakura if she learned from Tsunade.

"We're here!" Naruto exclaimed as we now stood at the Ninja Academy. He had a big grin plastered on his face.

Meanwhile, I only stared at the academy with a calculating look. It was quite big actually, but not that impressive. I then noticed a group of people giving Naruto dirty glares. A few of them even began whispering while they ushered their children away from him.

"Isn't he..."

"Yes, he's that boy.."

"He's entering the academy too?"

"What was the Hokage thinking?"

I saw Naruto only smile brightly, trying his best to ignore them, but I know he was actually hurt now. I could tell he was very sad despite the fact that he put on a very brave and ignorant front.

I put my hand on his shoulder, making hin turn to me and I slightly tightened my grip and nodded.

Naruto's happy face dimmed as he saw my expression and he put on a bitter smile. He must know he couldn't fool me with his mask.

"Let's go...," I told him as I stepped forward and entered the gate.

"Uhn!" Naruto grunted before following me. "I can't wait to study about Ninja! This will be awesome!" he declared brightly.

* * *

A few hours later:

"This sucks...," Naruto pouted while kicking a small rock near his side like a child just turned down, which, sadly, was pretty true.

I only crossed my arms and snorted while sitting on the swing in response to his whine.

The lessons of the Ninja Academy were similar to school in my world. Mathematics, history, science, writing, geography, etc.; the only difference was that these lessons were framed in a ninja context, and those all are learned in order to facilitate later instruction in tactics and strategy.

And guess what? There was no practicing with kunai, taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu and everything in the first half of the year. We were going to learn about the basics and all knowledge first.

So yeah, we would be studing all theory in the next six months, and poor Naruto had to focus his brain to read a book.

Let me tell you one thing, Naruto was never good at reading. In fact, most scrolls that Hiruzen gave to us, he never mastered any of them through reading. It was only I who read the scroll, and afterwards I explained to Naruto in a... physical way... no that sounds wrong. I explained it in a kinetic way.

"Why we should read these things!? We're training to be Ninja! What are we studing these things for! These!" Naruto paused and his face scrunched into annoyance. "Abominations?!" he yelled as he threw the book to the sky.

Only for it fall and knock his head.

I didn't bother to hide my snicker.

Naruto threw me a glare before he continued his rant about "evil books" and I promptly began to ignore him. I turned my head and tried to find someone I was looking for.

Ah, found her!

"Hinata-san!" I yelled as I spotted the shy girl who sat under a tree.

The girl in question let out a loud "EEP!", no doubt surprised at the sudden call from me.

"Come on, Naruto!" I grabbed Naruto's hand immediately and began to pull him.

"Eh? Eh?"

As Naruto and I approached Hinata, I put a smile on my face while waving my hand to the shy girl.

"Hinata-san. We meet again...," I greeted as I stood in front of her.

"A-Ah! H-Haru-san!" Hinata stammered, her nerves clearly expressed in her voice.

"I didn't see you in class before. What class are you?" I asked.

"Umm, 1-C..."

"Eh? How unfortunate, I'm on 1-B," I said with slight disappointment in my voice. "Oh, by the way, Hinata-san this is my friend Naruto Uzumaki," I stated as I introduced Naruto who stood at my back.

Naruto seemed nervous as he stared at me and I ushered him with a gesture of my hand. He approached Hinata with a big grin and extended his hand.

"Heya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet ya!" Naruto grinned in a friendly manner.

"H-Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata stammered out. She slowly took Naruto's hand and the blonde shook it firmly before releasing it.

"Hyuuga...," Naruto put on a thoughtful face. "Isn't that the family who has the prick face like the Uchiha?" He asked to me and I sweatdropped. If he put it that way…

"Don't be rude, Naruto," I reprimanded with a scowl while pinching his ear slightly, earning a whine from him. "Apologize to Hinata-san."

"Ouch! Ouch! Okay! Okay! Release my ears first!" He yelped and I did, he threw a glare to me before mumbling an apology to Hinata.

"I-Its okay...," Hinata said while smiling at us slightly. She seemed amused at our antics "Y-You're the one who painted the wall on the road of life a few days ago," she stated while staring at Naruto.

The blonde on my side put on sheepish face and I only rolled my eyes. Yeah, turned out whatever I did I couldn't stop Naruto from being a prankster. Me and Naruto were not always together everyday, every time you know, and while I was training in my free time, you know what he did?

He pranked people.

I must say, I was quite amused at seeing his work, especially when he painted the Chunin building with neon orange paint.

"You've seen my work," Naruto murmured with grin. "It's cool right?!" he asked.

"Umm...," Hinata seemed to be having a hard time responding, and it was no doubt because of her shyness. Damn, she really is this timid isn't she?

"Relax, Hinata-san, you just need to be honest. Naruto's work mostly is annoying just like him," I said with grin.

"Screw you, Haru! My pranks are the best 'ttebayo! I'm the King of Pranks in Konohagakure!" Naruto retorted to me while at same time declaring his title.

"More like King of Morons..."

"I'm not! How about you?! Fanboy!"

I began to sputter at his retort and he gave me a smug smirk. Really, Naruto never let me live it down after he saw that I acted like a fanatical fanboy in front of the Hokage.

We then heard Hinata giggle again and we turned to her. Realizing she got our attention, she blushed slightly and we laughed.

"Ah, Hinata-san. You can talk with Naruto for a moment okay? I will go and get your scarf...," I said before I turned and ran, leaving both of them before they could protest or talk.

As I began to run and was about to enter the academy again, I spotted a lone figure who was crouching while staring at the academy wall. I blinked before trying to find out who the boy was.

It took a moment for me to realize that the boy with spiky black hair and black sunglasses was a certain Aburame.

I grinned slightly. This was a good chance to be friends with him. I decided to walk up to him and stand at his side.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stared at what he looking at and found it was... An ant?

"Observing an ant...," Shino replied, not even bothering to turn to me.

I only blinked before I also crouched and began to observe the insect that was crawling on the wall.

"Ah, you must be from the Aburame clan," I stated, and this time he turneddd to me and I could see his demanding look through his glasses. "Don't be surprised, there is only one clan who is interested in insects in Konoha, and it is the Aburame clan." I chuckled at him.

"I see... That is a very logical answer...," Shino responded while adjusting his black sunglasses.

"Name's Haru. What yours?"

"Shino Aburame..."

"Well then Shino-san..." I give him a slight grin. "How about becoming my friend?"

* * *

**Yeah, we entering Ninja Academy Arc!**

**I actually plan to make all Rookie 9 meet with Haru in one chapter but I realize it was too long and impossible to made in one chapter**

**So I decide to separate it in few parts**

**As you can see Haru in here already forming his plan for his allies in future and also change few thing in the plot**

**The Ninja Academy Arc will be three or four chapter. And there will be battle at the end of Arc, you will see Haru face his real enemy**

**Haru will be strong, he will be like when Kakashi or Itachi young. Remember Kakashi become Chunin at age of 6! That surpass even Itachi!**

**The difference between Haru and them is he doesn't have any battle experience, save for sparring with Naruto on their daily training together**

**Anyway, that's all for this chapter! Next will be Haru meeting and with another Rookie 9 members! Guess who the lucky group that meet him?! **

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	4. Ninja Academy! Pt 2

**This Chapter had been edited by ILoveReadingAndWriting! Enjoy your reading and hope you love the new grammar!**

* * *

**Chapter 3. Ninja** **Academy! Pt 2**

* * *

The atmosphere was thick... So thick that you could pull out a kunai and cut it with it.

Naruto's face was purely stoic. It was rare for him to put that emotion into an expression. His hand twitched to the object between his fingers, his lips curled to slight scowl. It was clear he was prepared to fight to the death.

Hinata on my side showed a nervous expression, her face also adorned by worry as one of her hands touched her lips. Her eyes glanced between Naruto and the object he was staring at.

Shino's face was as calm as always, but I could see there was sweat on his forehead. His sunglasses also seemed to be shining even though their color was black. He adjusted his glasses while staring down at same object as Naruto and Hinata.

These three really in deep and serious thought, and right now one shouldn't bother them due to their stern faces save for Hinata who looked nervous.

Me?

I only put on a deadpan expression.

"Guys and girl...," I called while adding the last part since there was Hinata in this group. "This is just homework," I said flatly.

That's right! You all got it right!

The object they were staring at with very deadly and nervous expressions is none other than homework... Our homework precisely... We worked on it at mine and Naruto's apartment.

You see, once upon a time-

"But Haru!" Naruto whined immediately. "You don't understand! This! This homework is so haaard!" Naruto yelled while waving the pen he held.

"It's just a job interview...," I deadpanned again.

You remember the episode before the Chunin Exam in the Naruto anime? The one where Konohamaru and his gang appear and interview Naruto? Yeah we have similar homework like that apparently, and since Shino, Hinata, Naruto and I already knew each other for three weeks in the Academy we decided to work together.

"While it's true it's only a simple interview job," Shino said, his finger adjusting his glasses, "the person we should interview is... Unique..."

However there was one problem in this case... Or in this homework...

My eyes twitched at Shino's statement. Now that he reminded me about that again, I also couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

"And whose fault is that?" I stated flatly again.

We all turned and gave Naruto a flat look.

You see, at first the interview was free. We could ask anyone, however Naruto just opened his mouth and yelled about how easy it was, and the teacher apparently was the subject of Naruto's prank that morning. So he give us special treatment since Naruto in our group, and we appeared to have to interview a certain person.

The blonde now blanched under our gazes and he put on a sheepish smile.

"H-Hey! Hey! I didn't know the person we were going to ask would have such a reputation, 'ttebayo!" Naruto defended himself petulantly, and his retort only made our stares more intense, even dull, but it was enough to make him squeak. Though I was surprised Hinata was able to stare like me and Shino.

I actually didn't give a shit, even if the person we were to interview happened to be Danzo I still wouldn't care. But you see, the one we had to interview was-

"M-M-My father said M-Morino Ibiki-san is Chief of the Interrogation and Torture Division. H-He's also known as an ultimate sadist, even many Jonin are afraid of him," Hinata stuttered and it was clear there was fear in her voice.

You got that right, bitch!

We had to interview the number one torturer and interrogator in Konoha! What kind of sick fate was this?! Morino Ibiki was the person who would be asking questions! Not us, damnit!

How the hell were we going to get information from a person who tortures someone for information?!

"Oh, not just that..." I almost purred, my tone was as if I were telling a horror tale to children. "I heard he is a sick person who enjoys people's suffering. He has the ability to subject people to great suffering even without the use of physical torture. There are tales about him, when he lead some missions enemy ninja would rather kill themselves than be captured by him because his torture was intense to the point that it would even make an adult wet himself. Have you seen what's under his helmet? It's said when his helmet is removed he looks like-"

"OKAY! OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH! IT's NOT HELPING OUR CURRENT CONDITION, SO STOP IT 'TTEBAYO!" Naruto yelled to me, his skin was pale and clearly he shuddered in fear. Hinata and Shino also appeared to be afraid as I saw they were already shivering. The Hyuuga hugged the pillow that was near our couch while Shino's hand twitched badly when he was adjusting his glasses.

I only rolled my eyes, but there was a smirk of amusement on my face. I held back the urge to laugh at seeing their expressions. Maybe I was also a closet sadist seeing as I was enjoying their fear like this.

"T-That was horrible, Haru-kun," Hinata tried to chide me, but it came out so weak.

"Indeed, what Hinata and Naruto said is true," Shino added, a hint of annoyance in his stoic tone. "Why? Because makes us afraid of the person we will interview, which is something bad. Seeing Morino Ibiki-san's reputation, you'll only make our job harder by providing us with a scary tale about him," He said to me while adjusting his glasses.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized with a sheepish face. I couldn't help it! I always wanted to tease someone like this! "Anyway!" I sighed. "All jokes aside, this person is actually a big shot. Interviewing him will be difficult. It's not like I fear him, but seeing his status I doubt he will give information very easily," I said with a grunt.

"Then why don't you be the one that interviews him?" Naruto asked with a scowl.

"N-Naruto-kun. I-It's not like H-Haru-kun doesn't want to do it, b-but getting information from M-Morino Ibiki-san will be very d-difficult," Hinata came to my defence. 'Ah, thank you Hinata! You are a cute girl! Though it was unnecessary.'

"What Hinata said is true Naruto," Shino added. "Why? Because Morino Ibiki-san is-"

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Naruto cut Shino with a huff. "Seriously Shino, try to talk in a more simple manner!"

"I already did Naruto, but you don't understand. Why? It's because-"

"Arghh!"

"N-Naruto-kun, S-Shino-kun! P-Please d-don't fight."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the scene. Naruto and Shino always acted like this, their relationship similar to that of Kiba and Shino when they were on Team 8. And Hinata acted as the one who tryied to calm the situation, though sometimes I helped too.

Before you ask, yes. This homework could be considered sabotage for us. However there was something that prevented that. The teacher himself had promised us, if we succeeded we would be free from homework for two months and all our homework grades during that time would be A+.

And that was something else seeing as I was too lazy to work on my homework for two months. And if there was a way to do that, why not?

"Okay you two, that's enough for now, listen to what Hinata said," I also interfered. "Naruto, you must understand that information is very vital for Shinobi. For example, what if someone knew of your addiction to ramen? They could use that information by poisoning your ramen, and seeing as you love ramen so much there is a big chance you wouldn't even recheck your food," I told Naruto and he made a horrified look.

"Someone poisoning ramen?!" Naruto bellowed. "Blasphemy! Ramen is the food of Gods! Such an act is the biggest crime in the world! How could someone destroy such a beautiful and delicious food?! Blasphemy! That person should be-"

As Naruto began to rant about the almighty ramen and how the one who violated Ramen should be burned inside boiling oil, we couldn't help but let out sighs.

"I should know using such example is not a good idea," I grumbled while rubbing my temples. Hinata and Shino nodded in agreement. I picked up a book before smacking it against Naruto's forehead, making him yelp and stop his rant. "Focus, Naruto! Focus!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Naruto responded immediately while rubbing the red mark on his forehead.

"Okay, so we have five days before this homework is due to Hiro-sensei," I said while staring at them. "First, we need to find anything we can about him before we start to interview him. Why? Because if we face someone like him with only a small amount information about him, I'm sure we will get lectured by him, and giving his reputation it won't be a simple lecture," I stated and they nodded at me.

"But where we could get the information?" Naruto asked.

In response, I turned to Hinata and Shino.

"You two come from Shinobi family. Find anything about him, even if it's only small details. This is not homework, think of this as a mission," I told them.

"Hai."

"H-Hai!"

Shino and Hinata responded with their best look of determination, which I found adorable instead of cool.

"And what about me?" Naruto asked, eagerness in his voice.

"Go ask Jiji-sama. I'm sure he is willing to share and give tips seeing as it's his job," I told him, and it was true. If Naruto was the one who was asking, there was no doubt the Hokage would try to help, especially he knew what kind of person Ibiki was.

"Okay!" Naruto grinned while giving me a salute.

"Jiji-sama?" Hinata asked.

"He's the Hokage!" Naruto answered with a grin and Hinata and Shino looked surprised, although the Aburame's eyes were covered by his sunglasses.

"Hokage-sama is your grandfather?" Shino asked with a surprised tone.

"Not in blood, but that's what Naruto calls him. Dunno why he lets Naruto call him that," I told them. "Anyway, we can talk about this another time. Let's get to work, Naruto and I also have our evening training," I said and they nodded in an understanding manner. "And you two are welcome to come if you want," I added.

"I'm afraid I have to decline, why? Because my parents forbid me to come home quite late. And I also have my own training," Shino replied.

"I-It is also the s-same for m-me. O-Otou-sama set my own training schedule," Hinata said, but I could detect that she wished to follow us.

It was as I expected, the Aburame clan didn't have any problem that Shino socialized with us. Well, giving their status as having bugs inside of them clearly already give them a strange impression in public, so socializing with a Demon Brat wouldn't bother them since their reputation was already strange.

However, to my surprise and relief, apparently the Hyuuga were also not troubled that Hinata socialized with us. True, they didn't approve, but Hiashi never made any sign to separate Hinata from us. And here I already prepared a snide comment about the Byakugan if they tried to insult Naruto. It seems they were quite wise and smart despite their stuck up attitude.

Though actually it was a very logical decision. Naruto is Jinchuuriki, holder of the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune, the strongest Bijuu, the Bijuu that could beat down almost all the other eight Bijuu at same time in his full power!

So having their clan heir close to Naruto could work pretty well. It could be seen as a sign of power.

"And how about you Haru? What would you do?" Naruto asked.

"Me?" I pointed to myself, before my face scrunched into a serious expression. "As a leader of our group, I will act out the most important role that all leaders should do," I stated in a serious tone, and they stared at me with concern due to my tone. I took a deep breath before I leaned back on the couch, crossing one of my legs up and holding one arm to rest it on the couch and using the other arm I to pose myself in a "Big Boss" manner. "Staying in the home and relaxing," I said with a big grin.

""HARU!/H-Haru-kun!"" Naruto and Hinata reprimanded me at same time immediately while Shino only gave me dull look.

"Joking! Joking!" I chuckled, I was surprised to see Hinata seemed quite bold. Well it could be connected to mine and Naruto's attitude towards her.

We bring her to one spar and apparently she trashed Naruto, not bad but enough to show that she was actually quite strong. In raw strength Naruto appeared to win and clearly had the advantage. However, Hinata possessed flexibility and agility that surpassed him, and Naruto apparently underestimated her at first, which resulted in getting his ass kicked by Hinata.

But when against me, Hinata lost – quite badly actually. I'm not surprised, seeing as my training is far advanced than Naruto's. It's like I suspected; it seems my level is different from the Rookie 9 already, but that doesn't mean that I thought it was enough.

The reason why Naruto and my level difference was that big is simple. I'm not letting Naruto become too strong. Why? Because it's not the time, if Naruto became too strong, he could be placed into early graduation or turned to an ANBU.

I already arranged my plan for the future. While Naruto could become a normal student and not the deadlast, he would have to graduate at the same age as the Rookie 9. He had to because Naruto's bonds with the Rookie 9 were actually the main weapon for my goal.

I only trained Naruto in chakra control, but his taijutsu was something that I let him work on alone.

Anyway, back on track. Hinata seemed more confident because we always rained her with praise. And Naruto very adamant to praise her because he was very happy he got a new friend other than me.

That boost of Hinata's confidence was slight, though she wasstill shy, but she was not so timid to the point that she didn't dare to express her opinion like in Cannon when she was at her current age.

"I'm also going to search for information about Morino-san, of course. So we gather everything about him for three days. And in the fourth day, you all give your report to me. I will be the one who interviews Morino-san," I stated and they looked a little worried.

"Uhh, won't that be dangerous if you go alone?" Naruto asked in slightly worried tone. I could tell he tried to hide it, but he failed.

"I will be fine, Naruto, trust your best friend!" I declared while puffing up my chest. Naruto gave me a nod after hearing that, but I could tell he was very reluctant.

"A-Are you sure H-Haru-kun?" Hinata also asked in concern. I smiled to her softly, prompting her to blush.

"I'm sure, you all not need to worry," I reassured. "Alright! Time to work! Let's do our best to show Hiro-sensei how awesome we are!" I declared with a big grin and Naruto at my side also chorused. Hinata let out smile and Shino gave a grunt and nod of determination.

Finding information about Morino Ibiki, eh? This was actually a good thing.

I was being honest when I said I wasn't afraid of Ibiki. In fact, I'm excited to face a scary person like him, as it will strengthen me mentally. I never felt what people called Killing Intent and I know when I face it I will show nervousness. However, if I train from a young age, I will able to hold my ground.

There was no better chance than this... This interview was a blessing in disguise...

Besides, I also know someone who knows Ibiki quite well...

And by doing this, I'd also reach another objective.

* * *

Moments later:

"Welcome to Yamanaka Flower Shop! What can I do for you?"

I stared at the man in front of me with pure 'innocent' look. The man in front of me appeared to be around his late thirties. He had long, ash blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail and reached his back while the front part of his hair was spiky, and he had blue-green eyes. He was wearing Konoha's standard ninja outfit except without the flak jacket, similar to the one that Ebisu wore when he tutored Konohamaru.

"Ah, what do you want child? Are you here to see Ino-chan? I'm sorry, but Ino-chan is out with her friends," he asked me when he saw I was a child. There was no offense in his voice, only a statement of fact, and it was also gentle.

"Ah, no sir. I'm here to see Yamanaka-sama," I said in a polite tone.

"Oh?" Inoichi furrowed his eyebrows in interest. "And what do you want with Yamanaka-sama?" He asked and I stared at him while tilting my head to the side.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Yamanaka-sama," I bowed to him immediately and I swore I could see him gawk for a moment even, if I couldn't actually see it since I was bowing.

Inoichi took a moment to regain his composure before he barked into laughter, giving me a smile. "What is your name, child?" He asked.

"It's Haru, Yamanaka-sama," I said with a polite tone while meeting his gaze.

Inochi made a thoughtful face and he seemed to be rolling my name on his tongue for a moment before an understanding expression adorned his face. I assumed he had heard about me, either from Ino or the Hokage.

"Ah, Haru-kun yes. Yes." Inoichi nodded. "Tell me, Haru-kun, how did you figure out I'm the head of the Yamnaka clan?" He asked.

"I didn't...," I said and he blinked. "You just admitted it yourself. I was only guessing since it is often the first person who asks is actually the person who people are looking for," I explained simply.

Inoichi made a slightly surprised face before it turned into one of approval as he nodded. "I see, you are quite clever, Haru-kun. So what do you want with me?"

"I want to know about Morino Ibiki," I said bluntly and he made a surprised look again. Seeing his face I began to explain. "Ino-san must have told you about our homework to interview a superior ninja?" I asked and he nodded. "Well... apparently while everyone else has it free, my friend made Hiro-sensei upset and... he gave us a special request. We have to interview Morino-san as our homework..."

Inoichi's face turned from curiosity to pure shock. I can imagine what he thinking, we, six-year-olds and new students of the academy, had to confront Morino Ibiki? That was absurd and very dangerous!

Inoichi then put on a serious expression and he stared at me with stern eyes. "Haru-kun, the fact that you come here means you must know of my status as member of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force right?" At my nod his face turned grim. "Then surely you have heard about Ibiki-san's reputation?"

"Yes...," I said simply. "And?" I furrowed my eyebrows and he showed a slightly surprised look. "I aware of Morino Ibiki-san's reputation, but I simply don't care. Call me an idiot, but for me, this is not normal homework but rather a challenge. A challenge I have to surpass along with my group...," I stated with a nonchalant tone. "I have read a lot, Yamanaka-sama, and I am aware of many things. Even if Morino-san is scary, there will always be a scarier monster out there. And one day I will face those monsters. Will it not be better if I face the monster inside my own territory first?" I asked.

If Inoichi was shocked at first, now I couldn't find words to describe his current expression. I couldn't even decipher it completely, but I could tell there was astonishment and awe on his face.

Silence fell in the Yamanaka Flower Shop for moment as Inoichi stared at me and I stared back at him with a nonchalant face. Neither of us started to talk or began our conversation again.

I was about to make the first move, however before I able to speak there was another voice that interrupted us.

"Shikamaru no baka! You can't talk and act to a lady like that!"

"Troublesome woman, is there something wrong with my attitude? I mean, I'm not saying anything bad or anything good! I treat anyone the same!"

"That's the problem! You can't treat a lady like a boy! We're girls! It's different! And Chouji! Stop eating!"

"*munch* Sorry *munch*, Ino, but I'm already almost finished!"

Inoichi and I turned to the door where we saw the current InoShikaChou entering the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

The trio who was entering the shop turned and saw us. I saw Ino about to speak, but she paused when she saw me.

"Ah! You are the one who is with that Clown and Bug Boy! The glasses!" Ino exclaimed while pointing her finger to me and I blinked.

Clown and Bug Boy eh? That must be Naruto and Shino, and glasses? She must be talking about the sunglasses I always wear. Turns out I feel more comfortable in simple dark sunglasses and it was also more cool, so I discarded the googles. I wondered what moniker Hinata got?

"Ino, don't point your finger like that! It's rude!" Inoichi immediately chided his daughter and she flinched at that.

"Hello, Ino-san, Shikamaru-san, Chouji-san," I said while bowing to them in a polite manner.

"A-Ah hello. Sorry for pointing before...," Ino bowed back while muttering an apology. "Umm... Sorry, but I don't remember your name...," she said sheepishly.

Inwardly, I deadpanned. She knew about my group but not my name? What kind of moron is she? But on the outside I only smiled to her. "You can call me Haru," I said with a polite smile.

"Troublesome, hello to you too," Shikamaru greeted back.

"Nice to know you, Haru-san," Chouji greeted me with smile too. "Want some chips?" He offered, I could tell he was trying to be polite.

"No, thank you, Chouji-san," I declined. I wasn't in the mood to eat.

"Why are you here, actually?" Ino asked me.

"Oh, I want to talk with your father about my homework," I said and she blinked before she snickered.

"That Naruto-baka's bad mouth got you in trouble right?" She asked with sly grin. "I heard you, Bug Boy, that Clown and the Hyuuga girl were called to a private office and got special homework."

"You could say so...," I chuckled softly. "But well, if we succeed the prize is quite big and I think it's worth it," I finished with a grin and the trio blinked.

"Really? What's the prize?" Ino asked in a curious tone.

"I will tell you later, Ino-san," I answered in a mysterious manner and she pouted. "Right now I want to talk with your father first, okay?" I said as I turned to Inoichi who was observing us.

"Well...," Inoichi rubbed his chin, his face scrunched into deep thought. "You know I can't just give free information about fellow Shinobi right?" He asked.

"I see...," I said with a slight scowl. "Then is there anything I could to so I could gain information about Morino-san?" I asked.

Inoichi stared at me with a thoughtful face before his eyes moved to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru-kun?"

"Yes?" Shikamaru blinked.

"Do you play Shogi?" He asked, and I blinked. Ah, I can see where this is going.

"Yes, I can. Dad taught me when I was four," Shikamaru said with a shrug and his eyes narrowed. "You want me to play with him?"

"Correct!" Inoichi admitted. "If Haru-kun could beat you, then I will give the information he wants!" He stated with a grin at me. I hummed.

"If Shikamaru-san agrees, then I have no problem. But can I add an extra condition?" I asked. "I want you to settle my meeting with Morino-san after I get all of the data about him...," I stated and he looked surprised for moment before nodding.

"Deal!" Inoichi agreed. "Now, why don't you and Shikamaru-kun come to the backyard? We will play out there..."

I stared at Shikamaru with a smile and he stared at me with narrowed eyes. I could tell he was trying to learn about me. As expected from a Nara, checking his opponent even before the battle began.

* * *

Half an hour later:

Chouji found himself gaping at Shikamaru's side. Ino also showed a surprised face, and Inoichi put on an unreadable face.

However, amongst everyone I found Shikamaru's face the most amusing. He gaped openly, his eyes wide open to show a look of pure disbelief.

"I... lost...?" He murmured, and it sounded more like a question than a statement.

No matter how smart Shikamaru was, he was still six. I was a thirty-one year old man. While I'm not a pro like champions in my world about this board game, I'm still quite good.

The result of the battle was already obvious: it was my win.

He was maybe going to surpass me when he was older, but he currently stood no chance against me. I'm sure I can give some run for money to some adult player, and while Shikamaru is smart for someone at his age, he is still not that smart.

So I totally beat him... Not totally, he give me quite the struggle, but that's it.

"Impossible... Shikamaru never loses to anyone who's at our age...," Chouji muttered. "Heck! He even wins against twelve year old kids!" He stated in a whispery tone, but I still could hear it.

I chuckled inwardly hearing that. Sorry to disappoint you, but beating a twelve year old is nothing compared to someone who is thirty one years old.

"There's always a first time... Wouldn't you agree, Shikamaru-san?" I asked while adjusting my sunglasses.

Shikamaru snapped out of his shock as he stared at me. His face turned back to the board for a moment before he turned to me again. There was determination on his face.

"Again...," he said, and his tone sounded demanding, "I want to play once again..."

"Tomorrow," I rejected. "Trust me, I want to play with you too, but remember I have my own objective," I said as I turned to Inoichi.

"Well... That was an impressive game, Haru-kun," Inoichi praised, and I bowed.

"Thank you, Yamanaka-sama..."

"Maa, Inoichi-san is fine. Yamanaka-sama is too formal. Anyway, let's talk about the information you want...," Inoichi said as he gestured me to follow him and I nodded before I stood and he entered the shop again.

I was about to follow him, but someone called me.

"Your name is Haru, right?"

I turned to see Shikamaru staring at me with a calculating look. This was not the lazy or bored look he always used. This was the look of Shikamaru the genius. Shikamaru who defeated Hidan, S-class ranked missing-nin and member of Akatsuki by nothing but pure brain and strategy. Shikamaru who lead and gave strategy during the Fourth Shinobi War.

"Yes...," I said with nod

"I want a rematch tomorrow," Shikamaru stated. "We can play iat my place or somewhere else if you want...," he said.

I stared at him for a moment before a grin appeared on my face and I adjusted my glasses.

"Sure...," I replied before I turned and left.

I was already making bonds with Shino, Hinata Naruto and InoShikaChou. This is why I decided to come here. My main objective was to find a good alibi to make contact with the current generation's clan heirs.

I know people would be suspicious of me if I was friends with all the clan heirs. That's why I stopped after I befriended Shino and Hinata.

I couldn't try to make a move openly without getting Hiruzen's attention, so I waited to get a chance to make contact with them. I knew sooner or later the chance would come because I knew them so well. I knew their personalities and what kinds of people they are.

I only needed to act slowly but surely and they would come to me soon.

And now I got them... Almost all of them... There were only three people remaining, Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba. I already had a plan to get their attention and how to make them come to me without anyone being suspicious of me.

This... This was my biggest advantage... This was the advantage that I spoke of...

The power to make everyone come to me... Because I already knew what kind of people they were... I knew their personalities and what they went through.

True, I can't understand their feelings, but at least I knew what they went through and how it traumatized their brains. All of them were written in wikia after all.

All the knowledge I have... I can even perform Rasengan or even Chidori. I know the trick and the hand seals to perform those deadly techniques.

The reason I never tried to learn them is because I was still focused on one thing:

Chakra control.

Sure it was boring and not cool, but the effect was astounding. Uchiha Madara was able to perform a single fire technique that was able to burn the whole forest with one hand seal. Itachi was able to trap someone in a genjutsu by simply pointing his finger. Hashirama was able to master the Sage Art without signing any contract to an animal summon. Nagato was able to use Shinra Tensei to destroy the whole of Konoha with one blast.

All of them required and achieved a godly amount of chakra control.

If I could perform perfect chakra control…

Learning all of them would be simple...

That was the key to performing super Ninjutsu... The key to performing super techniques that would make everyone tremble...

* * *

Five days later:

"So you're the one who tried to get information about me, huh?" Ibiki stated as he stared down at the boy in front of him.

A few days ago he was called by the Hokage. Apparently there was one Chunin who couldn't hold his temper and give some homework that was too much for the academy standard.

The homework was to gather information about him and interview him.

While true such a thing simply could be done if the Hokage ordered it, the Professor knew well that Ibiki wouldn't sugar coat about was living as a ninja was like, and especially about his work at the Torture and Interrogation Division.

Seriously, what can a new student at the academy gain from a place where people were tortured and prisoned?

It would be quite reasonable if that homework was given to a student at the academy who was ready to graduate, but a new one?

That Chunin clearly needed to be reminded as to how to teach children in the academy.

Of course the homework was canceled. There was no interview, but only gathering information about him and the prize of free from homework for two months was canceled, but it would be considered if the information was good enough.

To Hokage's and Ibiki's surprise, the information was more than good.

The data Naruto and his friends gave to the Hokage about him was good. Very good, in fact it was quite complete.

That immediately got his attention. Apparently the leader of the group was not the blonde Jinchuuriki, but some orphan child with the name Haru.

Haru, that kid had actually become a topic lately. Not in good way, but rather mostly it came from civilians who disapproved of his association with the Jinchuuriki.

But then another topic came, this time from the older generation of InoShikaChou, Inoichi, Shikaku and Chouza.

Apparently, Haru defeated Shikaku's boy in a Shogi game, and not just a normal defeat. It was said that Haru outmatched him. And, while it sounds normal, Shikaku's boy is a Nara, a clan who was famous for their mind and strategy. To be beaten by civilian implies that either the Nara boy was very stupid or the civilian was a genius. After investigation, the result was the second option.

Ibiki actually didn't care. There were quite a few prodigies in this era. Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha were prime examples for that. This Haru boy may be the child of one of the Ninja that got killed in the Kyuubi attack and was left in an orphanage just in case, or he could be an abandoned child. After all, the number of abandoned children from the Kyuubi attack was not small.

But what caught his attention was this boy's statement and the information he got about him.

The information was quite detailed, almost like that found in the Bingo Book, and it came from a brat that was no older than six.

This child was clearly talented.

So he decided to pay the brat a visit and now he stood in front of the boy. They were currently in the Academy office alone, since he requested the boy's presence by himself.

"You must be Morino Ibiki-san," The boy stated before he bowed. "My name Haru. It's an honor to meet the Chief of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force," he said in a polite tone.

Ibiki only grunted, his face still stoic and cold while he stared down at him.

"I've read about the information you got about me. And I must say it was quite impressive for a boy at your age," Ibiki said and despite the fact that it was clearly a compliment, the tone he used was cold.

Haru appeared to not be intimidated even slightly. In fact, he beamed while putting on a happy face.

"Thanks! I worked quite hard to gather information about you...," Haru said sheepishly with a grin.

Ibiki only nodded before he pulled out one page that he held from the folder he carried. "You have my name, my birthday, my blood type, my academy graduation age and Chunin promotion age right," he grunted. "However, that information actually could be found in the Ninja list at the Library, so I don't care about that. But what I care about is this...," Ibiki paused for moment before continuing. "You got my Chakra affinity, my favorite food, my favorite words, my mission numbers and even the accident about my deceased brother," he stated before he gave a cold glare to Haru. "While that is very impressive since most of that is only known by people who are close to me, I want to know how you got it all. After all, the information Inoichi gave to you was not that complete."

Haru's smile was gone at that and he put on a thoughtful face. If he was intimidated, he did not show any sign of it.

"It was a secret, of course, Ibiki-san," Haru answered simply while adjusting his sunglasses.

"Boy, I'm the Chief of Interrogation and Torture in Konoha's ninja forces, and you try to keep a secret from me?" Ibiki asked in an even colder tone. The Killing Intent rose slightly from him. "Let me tell you something, boy, I have tortured someone at your age quite often, and to be honest sometimes I enjoy it. There are reasons I'm feared after all, and don't think that just because you are close to the Hokage that I will hold myself back," he barked before his full killing intent washed over the boy's body.

Haru's childish demeanor was gone the moment the killing intent leaked from Ibiki. The torturer could see he went stiff and inwardly couldn't help but to feel amused. He could see the boy shaking, and clearly the killing intent from him was choking the boy as the boy now let out bullets of sweat. His head was bowing down and he refused to meet Ibiki's gaze.

Oh yeah, this boy was no doubt still a boy. Nonetheless, his status, or what he just achieved, was withstanding one full blast of killing intent from an Elite Jonin like him, and the boy already whimpered like this.

Ibiki took a moment to enjoy the boy's fear and panic, for quite some time, actually – a minute perhaps – and when he decided it was enough, he was about to pull it back.

But to his shock, the boy stopped shivering, his features also slowly calmed, the bullets of sweat slowly disappeared, and his posture went back to normal.

Narrowing his eyes at him, Ibiki increased the killing intent to scare him again, but this time instead whimpering in fear like before, the boy only shivered slightly. He was able to hold his ground afterwards like there was no killing intent at all.

"My apologies, Morino-san, I was trying to get accustomed with your killing intent before," Haru stated after a moment of silence. "I must say the feeling was so close to death before... it was quite interesting. I swear I saw all my previous life flash before my eyes," he chuckled.

"Hoo?" Ibiki's eyebrows furrowed. "Trust me boy, that was still nothing…," he stated, but despite his cold words, Ibiki couldn't help but feel impressed by the boy. It wasn't usual for some child to not faint or wet himself when blasted by killing intent from an Elite Jonin like him. True, he could provide greater killing intent, since it was his nature due to his job, but the last one he pulled actually quite intense.

"I know about that," Haru chuckled. "And that's why I admit I lose, so I will tell you how I gained complete information about you," he said. "It came from one person: Anko Mitarashi..."

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

And with that, all the tension seemed to be gone the moment that name was spoken.

Ibiki took a deep breath before facepalming and letting out a sigh. He should have known about this already. Why he'd never guessed it was beyond his imagining. Only Anko would have the guts to spill something about him just to annoy him.

"And I got it easy. I paid all the bills for Dango she owed to the shop," haru added with a grin, and Ibiki swore it was this boy's turn to take amusement from his situation.

'I will make a mental note to lecture Anko about this...,' Ibiki thought with annoyance. "I admit boy, I'm impressed. Not many dare to stare at me and challenge me openly in mental torture like this, not even Jonin. And you, who are only six years old, dare to stand against me. You have nerve, boy, you have guts," Ibiki smirked slightly at Haru.

"Thank you, Morino-san...," Haru said with a sincere tone and Ibiki nodded.

"Boy,... I already hear about you from Hokage-sama himself. And you know what he thinks about you?" Ibiki asked and Haru shook his head. "You remind him of one of his students..." he said sternly and Haru's eyes narrowed.

"By your tone, I guess I reminded him of Orochimaru...," Haru responded.

"You're right, Orochimaru is one of Hokage-sama's biggest shames and regrets. I told you, boy, it's not just him who sees trait of Orochimaru in you," Ibiki said in a cold tone, the threat was there and Haru caught it.

"I know..., but you have nothing to worry about...," Haru replied. "I have my friends here and I won't hesitate to ask for their help if I am cornered..."

"So would Orochimaru," Ibiki pointed out.

"Well, Orochimaru was not able to make a good joke like me right?" Haru said with a smirk and Ibiki's lips also twitched upwards slightly.

"No, he can't...," Ibiki admitted. "Now go, boy. We're done and you can go back to your class, but remember, I may pay you another visit," he said and Haru only grinned.

"I will be waiting, Morino-san...," Haru replied.

"Ibiki is fine," The scarred man grunted.

"Okay, thank you for your time, Ibiki-san...," Haru said before he turned to the door and left.

When he got out of the room, a wicked smirk appeared on his face before he removed his sunglasses. His eyes flashed red and he saw in the black reflection, a pair of crimson eyes with two tomoes each staring back at him.

"Really... Thank you so much, Ibiki-san…," Haru murmured with a grin as the tomoes on his eyes spun before they retreated back into black raven eyes.

Another victory for him...

* * *

**Oh yeah! We finish another chapter of Ninja Academy arc! This chapter show how Haru meet with InoShikaChou and what bond him with them**

**I glad there someone who pointed Haru nature. And yes you are right! Haru while maybe not possess strength but he possess high intelligence and manipulation ability**

**He genius in that arc like Aizen or Lelouch. He very good in manipulation and with all knowledge he have it was clear he not afraid to abuse it for for his own gain.**

**He can be kind and associate with children like normal but behind all that he very manipulative to the point even he manipulate Naruto, the first friend he get**

**Of course there will be time he will get in cornered situation. But it will be quite time, maybe when he went out from Konoha or meet someone who also good in manipulating people**

**Right now Haru is save under Konoha, even Danzo won't touch him since Haru also close to Sandaime. Not as much as like Naruto but still quite close, thanks for his fanboy act**

**And for gaining second tomoe**

**Sharingan get stronger the moment the user get more traumatize or mental attack. In Haru case, blasted by full killing intent from Elite Jonin for quite long time clearly enough to make him see his own death multiple time, similar like when Orochimaru cast his technique to Sasuke and Sakura. **

**Next chapter will be meeting with Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba of course! Two or three more chapter before we end the Ninja Academy arc and enter Genin Exam!**

**Oh yeah, you bet there will be little change in the exam later! With Haru on Naruto side, he surely going to pass without problem!**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	5. Ninja Academy! Pt 3

**This Chapter had been edited by ILoveReadingAndWriting! Enjoy your reading and hope you love the new grammar!**

* * *

**Chapter 4. Ninja Academy! Pt 3**

* * *

I let out a sigh as I leaned back onto the tree after I just finished my daily training list. It'd been five months ever since my confrontation with Ibiki.

Of course, I never stopped training afterwards.

For me, I didn't need to study since I already knew the topics in the academy: mathematics, history, geography, writing, etc. I finished them all with good grades, albeit not Rookie of the Year. I was careful to not try to pull any more attention to myself.

My encounter with Ibiki had already pulled enough attention from the T &amp; I of the Konoha Force. Not to mention I also met with Shikamaru's father, Shikaku Nara.

Oh yeah I still remembered when that man first saw me. I felt like his eyes trying to dissect me and see what was inside me. He really showed some interest in me.

My training thus far went very well. My chakra control was remarkable and it was clear I surpassed everyone at my age so far. Heck! I was maybe better than Itachi when he was my age.

However, if Itachi at my age fought against me, I would lose. It was because I didn't have any battle experience, save for sparring with Naruto, Hinata and Shino.

When facing Hinata, Shino or Naruto one on one, I could beat them with little problem. Facing two on one, I was still able to win, but when Shino entered? Let's just say it was a close call.

To put it in a simpler manner, imagine I that have a status that surpassed Itachi current status, but that I didn't know how to use it properly and my body also, while trained, was not properly accustomed for combat.

As for stamina, oh yeah. Apparently a few months ago when I ran across Konoha I meet Gai who was also running. Seriously, I know Gai's appearance was ridiculous in the anime, but dear God, it was nothing compared to when you saw it in reality!

And don't start with his speeches about the flame of youth! God damnit, his poetic style of speaking and yelling almost made my ears burst out!

However despite all of that, he was still a good guy. He gave me some weights that now I wear on my arms and ankles. If you wanted to know, there was some store that sold seals that work like weights too, however to get those items you must be a Senior in the Ninja Academy class or at least already a graduate.

Gai preferred the classic method, which is why he gave me these weights that acted like bracelets on my arms and covers on my legs. They were quite heavy for children and I already wore them. He gave me a few that were heavier, but I decided not to use them yet since clearly I'm not insane enough to wear them now.

My weights were still nothing compared to Rock Lee's weights in Cannon. I don't know how heavy they are, but clearly they were very heavy if when they dropped to the ground they created craters as large as school buses dropped from the sky! And if he can do it, then so can I!

That's why I could be found panting quite hard while I sat,. I just finished my stamina and taijutsu training.

"Yuhuuu~ Haru-kun~"

My eyes twitched at the familiar voice that was calling me, and I tilted my head back to see the person who annoyed me the most lately.

"Shisui-san...," I called with an almost deadpan tone.

Crouching in one branch of a tree was Uchiha Shisui. He was wearing the black standard attire of the Uchiha clan and was grinning down at me.

"Training hard again, Haru-kun?" He asked while jumping down to my side.

Shisui Uchiha, or **Shunshin no Shisui (Shisui of the Body Flicker)**, was Itachi Uchiha's best friend and one of the most talented Uchiha in this generation.

We meet two weeks ago when I was at one of the unused training grounds, and ever since he always made sure to visit me.

It was utterly annoying. At first I was quite happy to see him. Maybe I could ask him for a few tips for training, but this man only laughed at me and said children at my age should be playing and other such similar things.

If he didn't want to help, then I wouldn't force him. I was able to see how he performed **Shunshin no Jutsu** with my Sharingan that was covered by my sunglasses and I already memorized the movement, so if he refused then it was fine – I already got something from him.

But to my annoyance, this guy never left me alone! After our first meeting he appeared again when I trained! Heck! He was already there before I even arrived, and strangely he was only there when I was training alone. If Naruto was with me, he wouldn't show up!

It irritated me since I couldn't train for real due to wanting to hide my real ability, and it also hindered my Sharingan training! Not to mention he was always being loud and annoying! He disturbed my training damnit! Always talking about how Itachi acted like a stoic boy and how he loved his little brother!

When I tried to make him leave, he whined and pouted like a petulant brat! Seriously, he clearly acted the opposite of his age!

'Fuck you, Shisui! If there were no Uchiha Massacre later, I would kill you!'

Ever since that day I always moved from one training field to another in order to avoid him. Fortunately, there few times I was able to train to the fullest, but sadly it waws only a few times. The majority of the time he was able to find me.

Now was one of those times I was able to avoid him. Thank God that Konoha was very big!

However despite all his stupid antics and behaviors, it took me a few days to realize what he was actually doing.

He was spying on me; there was nothing else to be said.

He was trying to gain information about me, and I sure it was due to Hiruzen.

While I still praised that old monkey and still called him "my Lord", he still distrusted me. No, he did not distrust me, but he wanted to watch my progress so there wouldn't be a second Orochimaru born under his watch.

"It's not like I have anything else to do," I grunted. "While it's true we live in same place, that doesn't mean we're always together," I said.

"Hey! Someone at your age has many things to do!" Shisui retorted. "You could play with your friends! You're close to that Hyuuga girl right?" He teased with a sly grin.

I only give him a dull look. It's true what he said; other than Naruto, Hinata was the closest person to me. It was because I spent too much damn time trying to break her out from her shy and timid nature!

And God, doing that was not easy, mind you. She was even still shy and stuttered around us! Even worse, that girl practically grew a crush on me instead of Naruto!

It's not like I'm complaining, since Hinata would grow into a beautiful girl one day, but seriously her current crush on me did nothing but annoy me! I mean come on! It was amusing to see her faint, but when she did that quite often it become annoying sometimes!

"I'm only six, you pervert...," I deadpanned at Shisui. "You're really sick person trying to hook me with Hinata who's still five."

The man was taken back by my words as he blushed slightly and began to splutter. "That's not what I meant!" He retorted. "Wait! Why the hell am I the one who's blushing and spluttering?! It should be you!"

I only rolled my eyes before grunting and pushing myself to stand again. I brushed my pants and picked out three leaves, then placed them on my forehead.

"Chakra control again?" Shisui asked with a blink.

"Is it strange? Chakra control is one of the most important factors in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu after all," I said with a scowl.

"No, I'm actually aware of how important it is, but seriously every time you train I only see you do basic training," Shisui commented. "Don't you want some flashy movement like Shinobi mostly do?"

"I do..., but I'm not allowed to learn it seeing as I'm still in the Ninja Academy and also an orphan," I said simply and Shisui rubbed his chin. It's true, the Ninja Academy did not train children in elemental Ninjutsu because it was dangerous. You couldn't have children running around while spewing out flames or water right?

The only ones who trained children in elemental Ninjutsu were mostly the ones who come from clans. The Uchiha and the Sarutobi are examples of that.

I, an orphan, was prohibited to train in elemental Ninjutsu, and if I got caught training elemental Ninjutsu without anyone watching I would be punished quite severely since it was dangerous. I could burn down an entire house if I made a mistake.

Thankfully, that's where the Sharingan came into play. Call them stupid, and indeed they were stupid, but a few Shinobi seemed very happy to be praised or cheered on. I remember when I watched one Chunin perform **Doton : Doryūheki (Earth Release : Earth Style Wall)****.**

Being the child I was, I let out a squeal and began to bombard the ninja with praise. His head probably got bigger, and he even showed me another Doton much to my glee since I actived my Sharingan under my thick sunglasses that time.

Seriously, I don't know why the Uchiha never bothered to use sunglasses to steal enemy techniques. Perhaps because by revealing their eyes they could trap an enemy in genjutsu?

I already memorized and copied those techniques. I even performed them secretly afterward and I succeeded, but seriously, performing Doton is harder than **Katon (Fire Release)**. For some reason it takes a lot more chakra. I assumed that because my affinity was flame that's why it was harder.

"You really think so? You're not normal, you know," Shisui stated and I held back a snort.

"That coming from someone who acts like a boy my age when he already passed his puberty?" I shot back and his eyes twitched.

"How the hell do you know about puberty?! You are too young!" Shisui yelled before his face turned morbid. "Don't tell me some pervert forced you to read porn!" He gasped then suddenly I found myself being hugged by him. "Poor Haru-kun! Don't worry, Shisui-niichan will cure your mind!"

It took everything I had to not ram a kunai into his forehead and kill him now. Seriously, I know he's a cheerful person and Itachi noted he was similar to Naruto, but to see it directly now is something else.

"Please release me...," I said as I pushed him away and I landed on my own feet. "I read a lot, Shisui-san. When you live with Naruto you have to be smart since dealing with him is the same as dealing with you," I told him.

"Oh I see, I understand what you-Hey! What you mean by that?"

"Nothing, now could you be quiet? I'm trying to train here..."

Shisui only pouted and mumbled about how I was being like "Itachi junior", which I ignored as I began to concentrate again, this time putting five leaves on my forehead.

When I made sure the leaf latched like glue, I nodded to myself before walking to the tree and pressing my leg horizontally then starting to fight against gravity as I began to walk on the tree.

I could tell Shisui seemed surprised even though I wasn't watching him. I only focused on the leaf exercise and training my body.

As I reached the top of the tree I turned and jumped to another tree and quickly latched my feet to the tree with chakra, making me glued to it.

I repeated this process as I began to bounce from one tree to another a few times. This was the training I always used, concentrating on my forehead while I also focused on my feet.

I kept concentrating on both my legs and forehead while staring at the scenery around me. While I already can perform tree climbing, I have to master it to the point I was able to do it in a subconscious state.

It was quite a long time until I felt slight exhaustion and decided to not push myself since Shisui was here and I had just done taijutsu and stamina training. I stopped before jumping down and landing on the ground.

"You can perform Tree Climbing, eh?" Shisui stated. "That's quite an advanced technique. Who taught you that?"

"You...," I said and he blinked. "I saw you walking on trees and I got an idea, 'If I can latch a leaf to my forehead, then why I can't latch myself to something bigger than me?' And after that I tried to experiment with it and as a result I am able to perform it now," I told him my alibi since I couldn't tell him I was already able to perform this when I was five.

Shisui gawked at me for a moment before snapping his jaw closed. I swear I could hear him mumbling about another Itachi and about being a bastard son of Fugaku Uchiha.

If I felt offended, I didn't show it and only stared blankly at him.

"You know, with that advance level of Chakra Control you could graduated into genin already." Shisui said to me. "Then why not try graduate early?"

"Because I have my friends," I replied simply. "I already promised Naruto that I would graduate with him. I also promised Hinata and Shino, too...," I said with a slight smile as I recalled the memories. Besides, I was already friends with InoShikaChou -plus Sakura since Ino would be friends with her and introduce her to me- I would still stay with Hinata, Shino and Naruto.

I picked Hinata and Shino because amongst everyone, those two could understand the feeling of isolation. Shino actually did not have many friends since he was always observing bugs, and Hinata was too shy for her own good and had family problems.

Those two could become good friends with Naruto, and I mean real friends.

Unlike me...

I was friends with Naruto, but I had my own intentions, and while I felt some shame in doing that, it still wouldn't make me stop in order to reach my goal.

I already made emergency plans where I would become their enemy in a similar manner to that in which Itachi abandoned Konoha if something went wrong with my current plan.

And if that happened, Naruto would need Hinata and his other friends at his side.

Shisui stared at me with a surprised look before a smile appeared on his face and he gave me a nod of approval. "Loyal to your friends till the end, eh?" He asked with a grin and patted my head. "I like that..."

I swatted away his hand and glared at him. That was annoying and his laugh only increased my annoyance

Bitch!

"By the way, you always wear those sunglasses. Why? Do your eyes hurt or something?" Shisui asked before he leaned towards me and poked my sunglasses. "It's also quite thick, you can see through this?"

"No... My eyes are fine." I removed my sunglasses and showed him my black eyes. And it's true that they were quite thick – it was because I needed to make sure people couldn't see my Sharingan when I activated it. "And yes, I can see quite fine. Sometimes I remove them if it's too hard for me to see. I just feel quite cool wearing these," I said with a slight blush, and it was because of embarrassment, but not the way you're thinking! I was embarrassed in a bad way since I couldn't believe I just said that!

Shisui let out another bark of laughter.

Bastard!

"Well! No matter how adult you try to act, a brat still going to be a brat after all!" he stated and patted my head again, which I swatted away again.

Suddenly the voice of a screeching bird echoed on the sky and we turned to see it. I narrowed my eyes at that and Shisui also did the same.

"Kami-sama call you for a mission?" I asked and Shisui snapped his neck to me with an incredulous look

"What?"

"Kami-sama is Kami-sama! How could don't you know who I'm talking about?!"

"Excuse me..., but I don't... understand..." he said with a troubled look "You're not praying I'm dead at such a young age are you?" he asked with a strange look.

"That's not what I meant!" I snapped with a childish pout, inwardly I patted my back for the act. "Kami of Shinobi! Sandaime Hokage!" I declared boldly.

Shisui blinked a few times at me, trying to process what I just said before he burst into another laugh.

"Oi! Don't laugh at Kami-sama! He is very strong, you know!" I said with a scowl.

"I know, I know! It's just! Hahahaha!" Shisui stopped laughing while rubbing one of his eyes. "I just realized something that was very obvious!" He said before he grinned. "Well, see you later, Haru-kun! And remember, don't push yourself too hard!" He stated before he made a single hand seal and was gone in Shunshin.

When he was gone I only shrugged before I began to look around to make sure no one noticed me. Then I removed my sunglasses and hung them on my collar. My Sharingan flared to life and I picked one kunai that I carried.

It was time to train my eyes.

* * *

Next day, Ninja Academy:

"Finally!" Naruto, who was at my side, exclaimed with big grin. "We finally learn to be ninja!"

Hinata only giggled at his antics, and Shino did not bother to comment while I only crossed my arms while rolling my eyes. Typical Naruto, always enthusiastic and cheerful.

Now you all must be confused about what he meant by that right? Well, apparently we were already done learning the basics of geography, writing, etc. It was already six months after all.

Let me explain about the curriculum of the academy a little.

Thus far, as I learned, all students, no matter how genius they were or whether they were a prodigy, had to attend the academy for one year. It was an absolute requirement.

After taking one year in study, there would be tests for graduation. As you can see, during that one year the student was taught all the basics about Shinobi and only basics.

Those who graduated earlywere actually learning and improving themselves by their own hard work and study. And might I tell you, it actually wasn't easy.

Like I said, I have a bigger advantage than Itachi or the other monsters who graduated early. Not only am I already smart enough to know about the academy, but I was also already an adult and possessed so much knowledge about Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and everything.

Naruto and Rookie 9, meanwhile, did not. True they were learning and people like Sasuke and Sakura were quite the academics, but they were still not considered to be fit enough to graduate early.

"Oi, Haru! Haru!"

I blinked as I broke out of my mind and turned to Naruto.

"What?" I asked.

"The teacher called your name!" Naruto said before he scowled. "What were you thinking of anyway?"

"Nothing, just wondering about the last six months," I stated before I turned to the teacher and raised my hand, letting him know I wasn't skipping class.

"Uh yeah! The last six months were hell, 'ttebayo! My boredom level reached its max!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I think it's only you who thinks like that," I stated flatly, making him pout. Hinata giggled beside me.

"Shut up! I know you were bored too! You were even sleeping in class like Shikamaru sometimes!" He accused and I only shrugged.

"But my grades stayed good, unlike someone else's," I teased with a sly grin and he only grumbled under his breath. He was actually adorable when he acted like this.

"Well this ends today! Now we will learn cool things!" He declared.

Since we already finished the basic knowledge, now we all started to learn the basics of the Shinobi arts such as Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Genjutsu, ect.

Right now we were all gathered in the training yard of the academy. We all would have a small taijutsu contest. The fight was to be stopped when one student was knocked down or fell. We only did this in order to get our form fixed and tell where we were wrong.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka…," I said to my companions and they turned to look at me.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Those two are the ones you need watch for...," I told them. "The Inuzuka clan is quite famous for their taijutsu and instincts in battle. While true they are very good for tracking due to their noses, their feral and wild style fighting is dangerous," I stated.

"Indeed," Shino agreed while adjusting his glasses. "Just like my clan who specialize in absorbing chakra using our bugs, the Inuzuka specialize in working with their ninken, and they're accustomed their fighting style with their dogs. Why? It's because to make a perfect collaboration they need to-"

As Shino began to rant I couldn't help but sweatdrop when I noticed Naruto's eyes twitch and Hinata's strained smile. And my sweatdrop got bigger when I noticed his outfit.

I don't know why, but now he's wearing a white hood and high collared shirt that covered his mouth and nose. With the addition of his sunglasses, the only thing that was visible of him was his forehead and the bridge of his nose perhaps!

I would never understand why he was wearing an outfit that covered his whole body, and I didn't think I wanted to know.

"Okay!"

The teacher's voice gathered our attention and we turned to see him holding his list.

"Now we will call our first participant. Let's see... Ah, Haru and Kiba Inuzuka!"

I blinked when I got my name called first. All students began to turn their attention to me and Kiba, who grinned. Well I didn't expect to make a confrontation with Kiba this fast, but...

'Oh, why bother, it was bound to happen one day. Sooner or later I'd have had to talk to him, and I think this is good chance to make new friends. It's already been five months after all.

"Not fair! Haru got first!" Naruto pouted at me.

"G-G-G-G-Good l-l-l-luck H-Haru-kun," Hinata said and I sweatdropped. When was her stutter going to stop? Oh well, couldn't expect much, she was still young after all.

"Yeah! Kick his ass Haru!" Naruto cheered to me with a grin.

"I won't say 'good luck', why? Because I know you will win so it is unnecessary and-"

"I will go now, Shino," I interjected while patting his shoulder. I doid't want to be yelled at by the teacher because of hearing his rant out.

As I entered the circle Kiba was already waiting for me and he flashed me a grin.

"I got glasses-boy, eh? Don't worry, I will go easy on you!" He stated, and while it sounds like insult, I couldn't detect a mocking tone. He only stated a fact, stating his confidence.

Well, having seen his personality in film, I'm wasn't surprised he said that.

"Please don't, if I'm able to win or get a lucky shot because you're holding back, it won't bring any amusement to me," I said to him and Kiba blinked in surprise before his grin came back.

"If you say so, don't regret it!" He declared, taking a fighting stance.

"I won't," I replied before I entered my Bajiquan stance and got an incredulous look from the teacher and Kiba for a moment. "Yes! I'm going to fight like this so start the match Sensei," I said to the teacher.

"Ah, right!" The teacher cleared his throat once. "Very well, this is only taijutsu and a test. It ends when one of you fall to the ground, that's all." He then turned to me and Kiba. "Ready? Start!"

* * *

(Third Person POV)

It was not far from the yard where the students currently in a contest of taijutsu. In the tree near the area, there were two figures who were crouching on the branch and covered by shadow.

"That's the boy Itachi," Shisui said while pointing to Haru.

Itachi stared at Haru, who was now taking a fighting stance, with a calculating look. The stance, simply to say, was strange.

"The stance he uses is...," Itachi trailed off while looking at Haru.

"Strange? Yeah... I agree. But it's quite effective...," Shisui answered. "I had seen him use it when sparring with the Uzumaki boy, and he's very good you know. Both of them are not bad actually, but Haru is on a different level," he said while keeping an eye on the boy.

"You said he's a prodigy and has talent like me?"

"Yep. Activate your Sharingan and tell me what you see?"

Itachi followed what his friend said and actived his eyes. His eyes widened slightly when saw Haru. "His chakra... for someone who just started at the Ninja academy for six months is..."

"Is huge...," Shisui finished with a nod. "Other than the Uzumaki boy, his chakra is the second largest in the group. He has a low to solid Chunin level chakra reserve and he's still six. It's even bigger than yours was when you were at his age...," he said.

"That was very large actually...," Itachi agreed with a nod. "He's almost like Hatake-san, then...," he noted, as he knew Kakashi Hatake was a prodigy who became a Chunin at the age of six. "Do you appear to have his birth certificated?" He asked.

"It does not exist... He was abandoned as a child. He was found by the matron in front of the orphanage and in the bag there was a letter that read "Haru" and that became his name." Shisui answered. "Perhaps his parents were strong Shinobi, or one of them was. There were many of our talented Ninja that died in the Kyuubi's attack," he said in a bitter tone.

Itachi didn't reply and only gave a nod indicating he agreed. There were many strong ninja that died during the Kyuubi's attack. That attack actually did the worst damage Konoha ever had since it was the first time some Bijuu just dropped in the middle of the village.

"It began...," Shisui said and Itachi perked up as he stared at the battle.

Inuzuka was the one who made a move first as he dashed to Haru. The speed Kiba had was quite something for someone at his age and in this era. As expected from the Inuzuka.

However Haru appeared to be able to see his speed and responded to the Inuzuka's attack. He moved his hand, his forearm swatting away the young Inuzuka's attack and with a speed that surprised Itachi slightly. He brought his other arm up and delivered a strong punch to the Inuzuka's chest.

Itachi could see the Inuzuka boy's eyes widen, no doubt because of the pain, and he gasped while holding his punched chest and stumbling back a few feet.

"He was... holding back?"

Once again Itachi showed a surprised look when he heard Shisui speak.

"He was holding back?" Itachi asked.

"Yes..., I have seen the boy's strength, Itachi. He destroyed a tree with his bare fist. The tree was not big, actually, but that is something for someone at his age…," Shisui answered. "And I'm sure that one hit is more than enough to knock down Tsume-san's boy. According to the rules if one of them falls, they lose," he told his friend as he stared at the boy he was spying on.

The Inuzuka boy gritted his teeth and Haru was still extending his fist, appearing to be waiting for him to recover. It wasn't long before the Inuzuka seemed upset and charged Haru again.

The fight was then resumed and both children appeared to be equals. However it wasn't long before Haru began to outmatch Kiba, but the Inuzuka boy would not go down easily. The heir of the Inuzuka was able to dodge Haru's counter, albeit just barely, but it still counted as good.

It was fair to say that both fighters were almost equal, but Haru was just better.

At least, that was what public eyes would see.

But in Shisui's eyes, the fight was one-sided...

Shisui knew the boy appeared to be more than he always observed. The boy was holding back when Shisui was in his presence.

The first time he started spying on him, actually, was three weeks ago. It was when he just got back from a mission and he saw Itachi was spending time with Sasuke.

Since he appeared to be bored he went to the training ground, and imagine his surprise when he saw a boy there who looked just like he went through a Shinobi War.

He was about to jump down and help him but stopped when the boy stood up again and continued his training. The determination the boy displayed was quite something.

Why was there someone who wanted to train this hard in such a peaceful era?

So he decided to investigate about him, and apparently the boy, Haru, appeared to have quite the reputation.

He was a friend of the Jinchuuriki and also the boy had a little confrontation with Morino Ibiki, the Morino Ibiki, mind you.

He went to the Hokage and asked about the boy to find more, and what the Hokage said was something that was not too good.

The boy... was hungry for something... and the thing he was hungry for was not a normal thing, but it was something else. Whatever desire the boy wished for there was big chance it was not good.

The Hokage then told him that if he wanted he could spy on the boy, but everything he found about Haru was to be told to him immediately.

And thus he began to act...

He was not spying on the boy like someone who hid in the shadows. Oh no, he wouldn't do that.

The best wau to spy was when the person you were spying on trusted you. The subject he was spying on was a boy; he did not need to act like it was some assassination mission.

Just being his usual self and open to the boy would work.

And the moment he did that, he actually found the boy's annoyed expression was fun! It was almost like when he trained Itachi for the first time!

From his spying, he found Haru was, in fact, already more than worthy enough to become a Genin. He focused on chakra control and never complained, and the sheer calmness of the behavior he displayed should provide more than enough reason to become a Genin.

He also had seen the boy sparring with Uzumaki and totally outmatch the boy. It was almost like watching a coach teaching his student and the Uzumaki boy wasn't bad actually.

So why was he holding back now?

Haru blocked all the Inuzuka's attacks with his two forearms everytime the boy striked. He also dodged a few times before delivering a counter attack.

While true the Inuzuka was able to dodge it, it was just barely. In fact, Shisui noted that Haru was still holding back, he was not as fast as when he trained. Haru seemed to degrade himself to become equal or one level better than the Inuzuka.

'Why would he do that?' Shisui thought with narrowed eyes as he observed the battle.

Shisui didn't know, but it seemed Haru already decided to stop holding back. One moment they were almost equal where Haru and Tsume-san's boy were trading fists.

Suddenly, Haru's leg move with speed, faster than the Ninja Academy level and swept the Inuzuka boy's legs from underneath him. The fanged boy lost his balance and Haru's hand blurred before grabbing the boy's shirt and slamming him down to the ground.

It was over...

"He's good... clearly he shouldn't be in the Ninja Academy…," Shisui muttered. "In fact, he should be a Genin already..."

"He's that good?" Itachi asked.

"No..., he's even better... In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he became a Chunin in his first exam like Kakashi...," Shisui said with a knowing tone.

"You already reported this to Hokage-sama?" Itachi asked and Shisui nodded. "Then why has Hokage-sama not placed him in an advanced class so he can graduate early?"

"It's because he doesn't want Haru turning into a second Orochimaru...," Shisui answered and Itachi stiffened a bit at the mention of the snake. "Hokage-sama says Haru reminds him of Orochimaru too much, however there is a big difference between Haru and Orochimaru."

"And what is it?"

"Haru values his friendships quite highly. When Orochimaru was a young age he never tried to make friends, he only became their allies, as persons who help each other due to duty. But Haru is different; he does not hesitate to make friends, the Hyuuga Heiress and the Aburame Heir are examples of that. Haru wanst to be friends, not allies, and that's what makes him different from Orochimaru...," Shisui explained as he stared at Haru with a calculating look. "And Hokage-sama is aware of this, that's why he doesn't want to make Haru graduate early. If he did that, it would separate Haru from his friends, and the chances that Haru would become a second coming Orochimaru will be greater."

* * *

"Winner: Haru!"

Applause and cheers appeared the moment the teacher declared me as the winner.

I stared down at Kiba with a calm look and he looked at me with an expression of disbelief. I then extended my hand to him and gave him a smile.

"Good battle, Inuzuka-san...," I said with a smile.

Kiba blinked before his gaze fell to my hand and slowly he took it. "Yeah, you too." He grinned and I pulled him up.

"We maybe could do it again sometime?" I asked.

"You bet we will! And I'm going to win next time!" He boasted with a grin and I chuckled.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Inuzuka-san, I won't slack off in my training," I replied.

We went back to our positions when the teacher told us to since there were still many contestants.

"You did great, Haru!" Naruto praised me with a grin.

"C-C-Congratulations, H-Haru-kun," Hinata said with a smile, poking her index fingers together.

Shino only gave a nod of approval.

"Thanks... Now you three better win against your opponents too!" I stated.

"You bet I will!" Naruto said while puffing his chest. "I'm going to kick ass! Watch me!" He declared.

"Hai, hai...," I chuckled as I turned and saw that it was now Chouji's turn.

With this, I already made my first step to Kiba.

I knew the only way I could first interact with Kiba would be through our fists. He was that kind of guy, after all, and my declaration before already opened the gate for our friendship.

Friends...

I actually did not need them; the one who needed to have friends was Naruto. Kiba's nature as wild and brash would fit Naruto's personality. I heard they even made pranks together in cannon and I would make sure it would happen.

There were reasons that I sometimes would still leave Naruto alone, after all.

He needed to feel more pain... It was in order to make him into a good guy just like in cannon. By knowing suffering he could understand other people, and that trait was actually the one that made people attracted to him.

Back on track, like I said. I didn't need to be close friends with them, I only needed to be normal friends. Just like Naruto's cannon relationships.

My meeting with Sakura was also only brief. She was'nt some fangirl that fawned over Sasuke, but was, in fact, a shy girl almost like Hinata.

Except Hinata was worse. At least Sakura did'nt stutter every time she talked. Maybe it was because Hinata got berated by her own father in her house.

I talked with Sakura and Ino a few times. Those two appeared to be more comfortable around me than Shikamaru and Chouji. Something about 'I'm not a lazy ass' and 'not always eating chips'. I even taught Sakura some things of academia she don't know sometimes, but that's all.

The only ones who were close to me were Naruto, Hinata and Shino. I had still not decided who else I needed to be close with other than those three.

Oh well, I could think about it later. Now it was better if I saw my classmates in battle.

* * *

**Another chapter done**

**Holy shit, I keep publishing new chapter less than 20 hours! Even I surprised at my typing**

**Well it can't be helped. You know there almost five or six new Naruto fanfic published every hour? Heck sometime even more!**

**With that amount of published story, mine always got buried and gone even before people able to read it! XC**

**Anyway as you all can see, Haru training advanced and he looks like mini Kakashi.**

**The truth was I think Kakashi actually more talented than Itachi but he not as strong as he should be because he too traumatized**

**He already at war when he barely reach his teen, he loss Obito and even failed to protect Rin**

**Kakashi become weak because he simply already loss anyone. He don't have anymore purpose and even working like zombie in ANBU**

**He only regain back his live when he quit from ANBU and become Jonin for Naruto and everyone else. Look how strong he is when timeskip during Shippuden**

**He able to hold his ground against Kakuzu at his full power, the ninja who already very old and veteran. He even fighting against three path of Pain by himself and able to kill two, save for Tendo**

**I think that's why Kakashi become weaker, he simply lose his purpose while drowning himself as ANBU. He don't have any desire anymore**

**Anyway! This chapter show Haru growth and interaction slightly and why Sandaime not act or graduated Haru early**

**You must know there reason why Haru strong. Haru possess knowledge about Narutoverse, he even know their famous Jutsu and how to perform them**

**But what he lacking is status and battle experience**

**He possess knowledge but without power it will be useless, that's why he push himself to be strong, to have power.**

**And there reason why Haru not afraid to Danzo, there someone who asking about him. It because Haru knew Danzo apparently now more busy with Uchiha clan**

**He able to not get caught or get many attention this far because Haru knew they busy. If you want to know there quite many thing happen before Cannon starts**

**The only peaceful time that appear is when Uchiha Massacre just done and it will be two years again when Haru and Rookie 9 at age 8**

**Next chapter probably will come tomorrow night since I going to busy. There will be timeskip and we going to see Haru fight for real. Haru confrontation with Sasuke will happen after the massacre**

**And yes, you right Shisui will try to make bond with Haru. And Haru while going to accept the bonds perhaps he still going to see how it benefit for him**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	6. Ninja Academy! Last Part!

**This Chapter had been edited by ILoveReadingAndWriting! Enjoy your reading and hope you love the new grammar!**

* * *

**Chapter 5.** **Ninja Academy! Last part**

* * *

"You are Haru-kun right?"

I stared at the man in front of me with an impassive look, my sunglasses hanging on my collared shirt.

It's been two years since I entered the academy. Time passed quite quickly if you were too absorbed in what you did, which was training in my case.

I was eight years old now, and I dared to say my training had already made me very advanced for someone at my age. My Shurikenjutsu was already at a perfect Chunin level, my chakra control now could be compared to that of a high Chunin Shinobi bordering on Jonin, and my chakra reserve was solid a Chunin bordering on high Chunin level.

"I am... and you are?" I asked, though I already know who he was.

"I'm Itachi Uchiha...," he said whilst staring at me with the same impassive look.

"Ah...," I made a look of recognition. "So you're the one who Shisui always speaks of." I smiled and the slight stiffness in his fists didn't go unnoticed by me.

... I see... So it was time already... I should've known...

Before you all ask, yes. I do spend time with Shisui. After the last time he spied on me he was gone for one month before coming and speaking to me again.

At that time he tried to get close to me and I knew why he did that. Of course, I played along and decided to humor him, and thanks to that he helped me in training sometimes.

From Shisui, I learned to have battle experience. I learned just how strong one of those monsters that I was to face in future would be.

And let me tell you, I may have been holding back on Ninjutsu, but I went all out in Taijutsu.

And he still kicked my ass, badly, very badly to the point that I almost thought all my training was for nothing.

In fact, I was thinking that even if I used all the Ninjutsu I had, I still wouldn't be able to beat Shisui. Hurt him? I could due to surprise, but it wouldn't be enough to beat him.

Of course he said that I was good, very good for someone at my age and my taijutsu, Bajiquan, was actually decent. My chakra control was very good, but none of them surpassed any solid Chunin level. It only reached high Genin or low Chunin.

And that was not enough to face the monsters out there that were hiding in the shadows, seeing as I'm pretty sure I would die when fighting against a Chunin.

That was one year ago, now I was sure I was ready to face a Chunin, and I can pretty much win against them, heck! Right now I could take down a Jonin by surprise if I wanted, but only by surprise.

Humoring Shisui was one of the best decisions I've made since I got a very high boost by training with him.

But sadly, it was also one of my mistakes.

In my training with him I never thought I would become fond of him. Oh God, yes. Shisui really was a bastard. I didn't know how, but he was able to sneak in and make me grow fond of him!

Asshole... He reminded me too much of Naruto..., always having his way with someone.

"Really?" Itachi asked and this time there was a bit of fondness in his tone.

"Yeah... He's always speaking about how you're a good shinobi and a prodigy. How you are a prime example how a shinobi should be," I said as I recalled Shisui talking about him.

For a moment I saw Itachi smile, even if it was just a small one. I also could tell he was quite happy, but it was soon gone and replaced by his stoic face.

"I see...," Itachi said. "He also spoke about you very often; he said your talent was surpassing everyone in your generation."

"I often heard that from him," I chuckled with a grin before my face became stoic. "What happened to him?"

Itachi stared at me with his usual impassive look. His black eyes met mine.

"What made you think something happened to him?"

"Your are ANBU...," I pointed simply. "It wasn't that secret, seeing as there are a few academy instructors that speak highly about you. And you're also Shisui's best friend, so you must have come on his behalf," I finished my observation. "And, I'm not so blind as to not see something happened lately with him," I added.

One year ago Shisui often spent time with me, but nine months ago he started to spend less time visiting me when Iwas at my daily private training time.

And the last time I saw him was one month ago...

"You're really perceptive...," Itachi remarked, his voice void of any emotion. "I came here to tell you that... Shisui passed away on a mission..."

I knew this would happen, I knew this would come to him, I knew his fate, I knew he would have died.

But I couldn't hide my shocked face as my eyes became wide and my body became stiff.

"W-What?" I stammered out.

Itachi only closed his eyes; I could tell he was also in pain. He was his best friend and brother figure after all. He then pulled out a letter and handed it to me.

"Shisui wanted you to have this if something happened to him...," he said.

I slowly lifted my hand and grabbed the letter. My hand was shaking and I couldn't help but feel the nausea building up inside me.

"I will take my leave...," Itachi said before he was gone in Shunshin.

As soon he left I fell to my knees while holding the paper.

...

...

...

...

...

GOD DAMNIT!

I let out a silent scream as I was kneeling, my forehead touching the ground.

I knew this would happen! That's why I tried my best to not get fond to him! His death was necessary for my plan! But oh God!

This... This was a big mistake!

I knew he was going to die and I could've prevented it, but I decided not to. I knew I would feel the pain due to losing him... As much I hate to admit it, that bastard was the best mentor and one of my friends.

With Naruto I showed my wisdom acted like his brother figure. I always tried to protect him and tutor him to guide him to become a better man than he was in cannon if possible. I had a brother in my previous life and let's just say our relationship was quite strained. So I was very fond of Naruto since I knew siblings sometime shared bonds that surpassed even children's bonds with their parents.

But no matter how good, I couldn't become true friends with Naruto because I was hiding too many things from him.

But with Shisui, at least I was not hiding too much. That man knew my skills and also he was the only person who knew about me quite well.

God damnit!

I noticed that there were tears that slipped between my eyes and I touched them. It had been so long since I cried. I never cried during my childhood because I was already an adult.

Wiping tears from my eyes, I stared at the letter in my hand before slowly opening it.

_Haru-kun~~~_

_Hello! Hello! This is your dear Onii-chan Shisui the awesome!_

_If you__'re__ reading this that mean__s__ you met Itachi, so how __was __your first impression of him? I hope he__ did__ not scare you too much. Itachi looks cold__,__ but he's __a __big softie inside so __there's __no need to __be __afraid!_

_And he apparently told you that I died during my mission, well shit! I never thought I would be dead this soon!_ (I couldn't help but sweatdrop when reading this part. Really Shisui? Joking about dying in your letter?)

_Anyway, I know you will be sad since you just lost your awesome Onii-chan__,__ but don't cry okay? Death__'s__ not that painful actually__,__ I assure you__,__ and__ I was__ also proud to die when I was on my mission, like I always said__.__ "Self-sacrifice... A nameless shinobi who tries to protect peace from within its shadow...__,__" was the true mark of a Shinobi. I died like one so I have no complaint__s__ or regret__s._

_I don't have much time Haru. I need to stop it now since you know that a Shinobi__'s__ body contain__s__ dangerous information__,__ right? I need to destroy my own body so enemies won't use it for their advantage__._

_For what happen__ed__, I'm sorry if you feel sad or __I __made you cry due to my death__,__ but you should know __that __all Shinobi will be dead one day._

_I want you to try to become __a __great Shinobi one day. Protect Konoha and your precious people. Protect __the __peace that we all have now when you become __a __Shinobi__._

_I guess this is it, __so __don't be sad__,__ okay? I'm not good with letter__s__ like this so... Good bye, Otouto.._.

I stared at the letter with a blank look as I mesmerized every word he wrote.

God damnit, Shisui!

'Calm, Haru, calm, calm. Take a deep breath and let it out. Remember Haru, the end will be worth it the moment you get the Rinnegan. Remember that this all necessary, and it has to happen. Shisui was one of your subjects, you can mourn about him and you can cry for him, but you can't have a mental breakdown because of his death and make it stop you from reaching your goal.'

Thankfully my efforts to calm myself were working as I started to feel better.

What happened to Shisui was bound to happen, even in cannon he was dead.

"You don't need to worry, Shisui...," I muttered as I scrunched the letter in my hand. "Your sacrifice won't be in vain... Konoha is going to stand in the future, I assure you, and so will the peace inside it the moment I get the Rinnegan on my side...," I said aloud to no one before I slowly opened my eyes and my Sharingan flared. "And you will be avenged, Danzo will be dead one day and your eyes will be free from his reign."

I already had my plan for Danzo, he wouldn't survive for long. He would be dead before Pain assaulted Konoha. I already predicted it and I knew well the easy way to deal with him. I had aces under my sleeves when facing him after all.

As I stared at the tree and my surroundings, I can't help but tell my vision was getting better and also more sharp.

It was in this moment that I realized that I gained my third tomoe through Shisui's death.

Even in his death he still gave me support. 'Shisui you will be avenged, I assure you.'

* * *

Two weeks later, Ninja Academy yard:

"Alright everyone! I want each of you to demonstrate your ninjutsu skills!" Iruka said.

And as soon he said that, the majority of the students each let out a 'boo' at him. I only furrowed my eyebrows while Naruto on my side seemed slightly excited.

Iruka gave a reassuring smile to us before he added, "Don't worry: you all won't be graded. This is just so I can see how far you've advanced all your knowledge," he said.

In these two years nothing much changed, actually. Naruto already formed a relationship with the Rookie 9. With Kiba they sometimes hung out together like normal friends, but Kiba was mostly his partner in pranking.

Shikamaru and Chouji were his friends in skipping class, if you know what I mean. Kiba also joined them sometimes.

With Ino and Sakura, while they had not degraded him as badly as in cannon, there were some things that would never change. Ino and Sakura fawning over Sasuke was an example for that. And Naruto having a crush on Sakura was also one of them.

And lastly...

I took a glance at the last survivor of the Uchiha clan save for Itachi, Obito and myself.

The massacre began one week after Shisui's death. Sasuke was just released from the hospital three days ago. Of course Naruto still didn't know about it, heck! Many other students also didn't know, save for the Clan Heirs, and even they did not talk about it openly since it was clearly a grim topic.

Naruto, who only had a few friends and talked with few of his classmates, surely didn't know about the massacre and what happened to Sasuke until now, and I'm not bothering to talk about it.

Naruto and Sasuke's relationship... Well apparently it seemed bound to happen since Sasuke was pretty much very popular and Naruto would get jealous because of that. Despite having attention from me, Hinata and Shino, it still was not enough for him and I know about that too. It's just logical after all, seeing how he was hated by the whole village and he had less friends than fingers on his hands.

I didn't bother to correct or reprimand him about Sasuke since the rivalry would be bound to happen sooner or later after all.

As for me, I always stuck with Hinata, Shino and Naruto, of course. Sometimes I played shogi with Shikamaru and talked with Chouji. With Kiba, I simply sparred with him usually or talked to him about dogs. I still talk with Ino and Sakura too, though I talk to each them at different times since both of them had now become rivals in love.

Oh, well, there was another change.

Apparently the relationship between Naruto and Iruka already formed earlier. It was one day when Naruto and I had just finished our training together. We went to Ichiraku and apparently Naruto forgot to bring his wallet.

That time I was about to pay for him too since I brought extra money, but there Iruka was in Ichiraku and he was offering to pay for us. It seemed that that time Iruka did not see I was with Naruto when offering to pay and when he saw Naruto he was surprised.

But I quickly accepted the offer and he paid it for us much to Naruto's joy. Apparently Naruto tried to make small talk with him since he was curious about the man who treated him to ramen.

And that marked the beginning of their bond.

"Well, we will do a basic technique. **Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)**," Iruka said as he looked at the name list. "Okay... The first person will be... Uchiha Sasuke!" He called.

And with that, cheers and squeals came out from the girl academy students. Even now I still didn't get why they would spend their time fawning over a boy when they could progress in learning how to kill people.

Sasuke stepped forward, his face calm and his hands in his pockets. "Hn! Bunshin no Jutsu is child's play," he declared simply.

Naruto was at my side and of course immediately took offense. He couldn't perform Bunshin correctly because his chakra was apparently too large.

"You're always like that! Acting smug and almighty!" Naruto growled out while pointing to Sasuke.

"Shut up, Idiot...," Sasuke said coldly.

Before Naruto could retort, the fangirls already started to support Sasuke.

"Don't interrupt Sasuke-kun's focus!" Sakura yelled.

"That's right, Naruto! You're in the way!" Ino added.

At that Naruto promptly started sulking while muttering about Sakura. Hinata, who was by his side, seemed to try to cheer him up while I only stared at him dully. Really, I should have prevented his crush, but since it would work in a good way in the future I figured I would leave it.

Ignoring all interruptions, Iruka resumed. "Okay, Sasuke. Try it!" Iruka said.

At the order, Sasuke began to perform several hand seals with average speed. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" He declared before a poof of white smoke appeared and engulfed him.

When it was clear, we all saw there were two complete twins of Sasuke standing in front of us and students began to let out impressed hums.

"Amazing! That's a perfect Clone Jutsu!" Sakura said with awe. "I can't tell which one is real!"

"Heh! It's so obvious to me!" Naruto grinned as he stepped forward. "It's this one!" He jumped and delivered a kick to one of the Sasuke's and…

POOF!

It turned to nothing but smoke, indicating he was wrong.

"Wrong!" The other Sasuke said simply as he stepped forward.

Naruto turned and looked at Sasuke while gritting his teeth. He was obviously annoyed.

"Idiot, what are you doing?" Sakura said.

"That's the real one!" Ino added.

However, before anyone could do anything I decided to interfere.

"Wrong," I said and gaining everyone's attention. "That is also a Bunshin... right, Sasuke?" I asked as I glanced to tree not far from us.

Everyone began to follow my gaze and they all saw that indeed there Sasuke was, sitting on a branch of the tree staring at me.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at me. I could tell he seemed impressed slightly. "Hn!" He grunted before jumping down.

"Very good, two clones in an instant and the original hiding somewhere else," Iruka praised as he stared at Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed to be ignoring all of them and he only focused on me. I also stared back at him.

"How did you know it, Haru?" Naruto asked.

"Simple, there was no shadow on his bunshin," I replied to Naruto. "If you observe his feet you will notice the difference, Bunshin no Jutsu only create an image and smoke. They do not dirupt the area around themselves," I told Naruto who made an understanding face at my explanation.

"Haru's right, Bunshin no Jutsu could be identified just by looking at the user's shadow...," Iruka agreed with me and everyone stared at me.

To be honest, my reputation in the academy wasn't bad. I was known as one of the smartest students, but that's all. There was nothing special.

Sasuke's gaze meanwhile was something else. He looked at me like someone who just found a new gift, curious and interested.

I only returned his gaze with an impassive look and for some reason it seemed to bother him as I could see a flash of anger in his eyes.

The bait was already thrown... Hook... Line and...

"I want to talk with you..."

* * *

Sinker.

Naruto and I were on our way to go back to the apartment after out day at the academy finished when we were stopped in our tracks. My blonde friend seemed surprised while I only narrowed my eyebrows but inwardly smirked.

"What do you want, teme?" Naruto called with a scowl.

"Not you...," Sasuke dismissed him. "But you...," he stared at me. "Haru was it?"

"Yes...," I replied simply.

"Teme! What do you want with Haru?" Naruto asked in a suspicious manner.

"Naruto... Go to the apartment first, I will be there soon...," I said to him and he looked at me with surprise.

"Eh? Haru, but you said we were going to eat at Ichiraku's! I don't want to be late for ramen!" He replied, but I could tell the reason was more than that. I simply smiled at him before patting his head.

"Maa. Maa, it won't be long, I promise," I smiled and he swatted my hand away. "Right, Sasuke-san?" I asked him.

"Hn!" He grunted and nodded at me.

"Fine!" Naruto pouted. "But you better be fast! I'm hungry already!" He then turned to Sasuke. "Teme, if you dare to hurt Haru I will kick your ass!" He yelled before turning away and leaving.

Sasuke stared at me with a sharp face and I stared back at him with a bored one. Before he was able to open his mouth I spoke first.

"Hinata, you also need to go home," I stated.

A loud "EEP" came from a nearby lamp post, and from our position I could see Hinata's hair poking out from behind it. Sasuke appeared to be surprised as he snapped his face in Hinata's direction who was now promptly running home, no doubt embarrassed due to getting caught by me.

I was actually aware that she was stalking me. She started to do that lately and sometimes I let her do that, but sometime I also fled from her sight. I did that so she could train in tracking.

"Well, what you want to talk about, Sasuke-san?" I asked.

"You are the one Shisui was always talking about...," Sasuke stated and I blinked.

"And what if Shisui talked about me?" I asked again before I scowled. "He didn't talk about me being a mini-Itachi did he?"

I saw Sasuke eyes twitch and there was anger on his eyes when I mentioned Itachi's name. Couldn't be helped, after what he went through it just logical that he was angry.

"As matter of fact...," he said while gritting his teeth, "I want you to fight me..."

"Huh?"

"You heard me, I want you to fight me..."

"Why?"

"Because I need to be strong and I only can get stronger if I'm facing a stronger opponent."

"... Alright, but I won't hold back...," I said in a matter-of-fact manner. "We can fight here, no civilians don't come to this area at this hour after all," I stated, and it was true. The area where we were living didn't have many people.

"Hn!" Sasuke grunted before he took a stance and I also took my stance.

...

...

...

...

Sasuke blurred, his speed was fast, quite fast for his generation. He was Rookie of the Year after all, and the Uchiha clan's strictness in training rivalled the Hyuuga clan, so it did not surprise me to see that he was so good.

In the academy class, the top students in taijutsu were Sasuke, Hinata, me, and lastly Naruto and Kiba who were on the same level.

However in truth, Shino, Hinata and Naruto know I'm stronger than them. When they asked why I was holding back I said it was because I didn't want to be separated from them. If I graduated too fast I wouldn't be able to stay with them. It was a simple answer and I still remembered Naruto's happy look, Hinata's full blush and appreciation, plus respect from Shino's look.

Those three were actually pretty good. Hinata only lost against Sasuke because she didn't have the strength -fortunately she had Juuken, that actually put them on the same level.

And while Hinata or Sasuke is good…

They were nowhere near my level…

It was over in an instant.

One moment Sasuke made the first move by lunging at me. The next second he found himself slammed to the ground with my fist extended, nearly connecting with his face.

"I win," I said.

Sasuke's face morphed into one of pure shock and he openly gawked at me now. I only stared at him with an impassive look, the same look another Uchiha always used.

I stepped up and released him, and he snapped out from his dazed state, gritting his teeth in clear frustration.

"To be honest...," I started, "I do feel sorry for what happened to you, but I'm not pitying you," I said and he rose his head up. "Yes, I heard about the massacre that your brother did," I told him and saw his eyes flash in anger. "Did he tell you why?"

"Because... He wanted to test himself. To pit me against him. He wants me to hate him!" Sasuke said through his gritted teeth and I blinked.

"And you believe it?" I asked in an almost deadpan tone.

"How could I not?! He showed it to me! He trap me in a genjutsu! Over and over! He showed me when he butchered and slaughtered everyone!" He screamed in anger.

"He trapped you in a genjutsu...," I deadpanned again while quoting him. "Genjutsu, Sasuke... It's not memory... Heck it's not even real..."

"Well it clearly was real seeing as all people in my clan is dead! My family is dead! Cousins! Uncles! Aunts! My parents! EVERYONE!"

"What I meant by 'not real' is that he clearly did not murder the entire clan alone," I said and he froze.

"What?" Sasuke muttered out in shock.

"Think Sasuke-san, the Uchiha clan is a powerful family. So how could a thirteen-year-old boy – even if he was ANBU Captain that's still absurd – kill the entire Uchiha clan alone? And how did Hokage-sama not notice it until it was too late?" I asked again.

At that moment I could see realization come to Sasuke eyes. It seems he never thought about it until later when he reached the Shippuden arc. Good thing I told him now.

Children after all, are easy to manipulate.

"He had help...," I said gravely.

"Yes... Yes... That's logical...," Sasuke murmured. "He did... Clearly he did...," he said in a whispery tone with wide eyes.

"Listen Sasuke-san, the scenario that happened in this murder case could be deeper than you thought and not just because Itachi-san wanted to test himself. Think. If he did, surely he would go to Hokage-sama, right?"

"Y-Yes... You're right..."

I smirked with glee at seeing he was now hearing everything that I said like some doll moved by the puppeter. Ohh this was so easy, that's why I loved children. They were adorable, but they also could be manipulated with ease!

"This is one of the scenarios I think happened. To kill the whole Uchiha clan no doubt would cause quite a ruckus, especially only in a few hours. Konoha is a strong village and the security is also top notch, even if we just suffered from Kyuubi's attack, so there's no way no one noticed it... The only way to do that is-"

"Someone worked from the inside...," Sasuke finished. "There was someone who work from inside and prevented Konoha Ninja from coming to aid us!" He said in a tone of realization.

"Or there was someone who was powerful enough to put a barrier up and isolate the Uchiha clan for a moment. Someone at Hokage-sama's level...," I put my opinion in with a nod. "There are so many things to be questioned and many things could have happened, Sasuke-san. The only one who knows the truth is Itachi-san. And I don't think he's bad guy. Why? Like I said before, the reason being 'to test himself' is plain stupid," I stated.

I saw Sasuke clearly put an understanding look on as if he was a children who just solved the biggest mystery in the World. Heh, time to make the finishing movement.

"There's a big chance that Itachi could be framed, you know," I pointed out slyly, gaining his attention. "And he saw he couldn't escape, he tried to make you hate him so no one would be suspicious of you and so the one that framed him wouldn't target you in order to hurt him. If you appeared as his enemy, the one who was responsible for framing him wouldn't target you to pull Itachi out of hiding," I said. "Which means that Itachi cares for you and was trying to protect you..."

"Itachi... Aniki... Cares for me... He... Protected... Me?" Sasuke asked in a whispery and purely shocked tone. I then saw his breathing become abnormal.

"Sasuke-san?" I called.

But Sasuke didn't hear me, his breathing began to quicken and it was clear now that he was hyperventilating. In an instant I was already at his side.

"Calm down! Breath in! Breath out! Sasuke-san! Calm down!"

I tried my best to calm him, but I knew it was not going to work. Children at his age wouldn't be able to calm down after hearing my explanation after all, even in his adulthood he would still have a panic attack when Tobi told him the truth.

It wasn't long before he slowly closed his eyes and fell into unconsciousness. I immediately carried him while lunging his arm over my shoulder.

Perfect... Perfect... So perfect...

There was a reason I did this after all...

Sasuke also must loyal to Konoha. By doing that he will become bait for Orochimaru and the snake was clearly going to die when the time came, but not before Kabuto was killed of course, his assistant must die first, seeing as he was so troublesome.

Besides... There were many advantages if Sasuke was loyal to Konoha too. And I also needed him to stay so I could put him under my radar. He would my main weapon if Itachi tried to stop me.

It was like I predicted, the next day Sasuke came and sat with me, Naruto, Hinata and Shino during lunch time, much to Naruto's annoyance.

I only smiled at him..

* * *

Three days later (Third Person POV):

It was a normal morning in Konoha. Birds were chirping peacefully. People were greeting each other in kind manners. Civilian children entered the civilian school. The ninja academy students enter their own academy. A few ninja already started missions and went about doing them while the lower-class ninja did theirs inside the village.

All in all it was a peaceful and normal day...

However...

There was one thing that was different...

At the hills that were not far outside Konoha, the place where sometimes children used to play or train secretly, a figure landed on the ground after hopping down from a branch.

The figure was ANBU, or at least that's what people would think when they saw him because his outfit consists Konoha ANBU attire complete with the mask. But instead of being an animal shaped mask, the ANBU's mask was simply blank.

And he also appeared to be young, quite young in fact.

The ANBU observed the ground he landed upon. There were swords, kunai, scrolls and everything that ninja mostly used in battle. All of those tools was splattered on the ground like they just went unused anymore.

It didn't take a genius to guess that there was Shinobi battle here not long ago, which was true actually. You see, yesterday a ninja spy from another village was spotted by one of the Konoha ninja, and of course a battle began.

The spy ninja was killed and the body brought back to Konoha to be checked. Right now the hill was avoided by children due to fear that there were still enemy spies hiding.

'I already arrived in the battlefield...,' the ANBU thought as he stared at the scenery. 'If I recall it wasn't far... There should be a bird's nest not far from here... I swear I had seen it before, I often came here with Naruto after all!' He began looking around to find the nest, and after a moment he took one tanto that was laying on the ground and jumped away again.

Before any of you ask, yes. The ANBU was Haru in disguise. The boy decided to skip class for today, he had already made a plan for this after the massacre of the Uchiha began.

The ANBU attire was not hard to get since it was only a replica, while true it was not a real uniform since the real ones were only sold by Ninja shops, the replica wasn't hard to get. It was sold by a shop so civilians or students in the academy could use it to protect themselves just in case.

He, of course, was aware that there would be spies and ninja from enemy villages that were lurking around Konoha. Then why was he searching for them? It was simple.

He wished to test himself...

'There!' Haru's eyes spotted one of bird's nests when he was jumping to one tree. He immediately tilted his feet to another branch before jumping to the tree where the bird's nest was placed.

He observed the bird's nest and inwardly grinned when he saw a strange kunai that spy ninja used.

Haru took the strange kunai and began to observe it. However it was not long that he checked the kunai before a barrage of shuriken soared towards him from above.

He reacted quite slowly, the shuriken managed to pierce his feet and thighs. He grunted in pain, however before he was able to do anything another barrage of shuriken launched and struck him.

STAB! STAB! STAB!

His body was pinned to the tree due to the impact from shuriken and he crashed before his body went limp and slowly fell to the ground.

"Heh..."

A feminine voice that was filled with insult echoed.

Three figures leapt down from the tree. It revealed that they were the ninja spies, or kunoichi spies precisely.

"Too easy... Konoha must have been damaged quite severely to have their ANBU weaklings like this." The... Let's call them Kunoichi 1, Kunoichi 2 and Kunoichi 3, and the one who spoke was Kunoichi1.

"Well, they were attacked by nine tails not long ago. And there was a rumor about the Uchiha clan having just been massacred," Kunoichi 2 said.

"Oh yeah, I also heard it. And the one who did it was an ANBU at the age of thirteen. That was quite scary...," Kunoichi 3 remarked with a slight shudder.

"Hmph. We can talk about that later girls, right now we have our mission," Kunoichi 1 told her subordinates. The two other kunoichi nodded, agreeing with their leader. "Let's take the kunai and leave...," She said as she was about to take the kunai from the dead body.

POOF!

Only to have the dead body replaced by a log.

"What the?!"

"**Kawarimi no Jutsu?! (Body Replacement Technique)**"

Kunoichi 1 suddenly felt a massive heat approach them from above. Her eyes darted upward and widened when she saw massive fireball launched towards them.

"Scatter!" She yelled.

The other two kunoichi did not even bother to ask. They immediately obeyed and the three of them scattered, dodging the fireball that burned the area where they once stood.

"A decoy?!" Kunoichi 2 asked loudly as she and her friends regrouped at one branch.

A figure suddenly dropped on the branch of a tree not far from them. It looked like it was the same ANBU they had thought to be dead.

"Taki Kunoichi... Speak the reason why you're lurking around Konoha or I will be forced to make you talk," Haru demanded in a monotone, his voice changed slightly thanks to the henge.

"Heh, you wish! We will take that information from your dead body, brat!" Kunoichi 1 sneered before she pulled out shuriken, the two other kunoichi following her act. They threw them before performing hand seals **"Gen'ei Tajū Shuriken! (Multiple Phantom Shuriken!)"**

The three shuriken that the Taki Kunoichi threw suddenly multiplied. Their numbers increased greatly and launched towards Haru. Haru, seeing them perform the hand seals before, clapped his hands together.

**"Fūton : Daitoppa! (Wind Release : Great Breakthrough)"**

By any means, Haru's affinity was clearly fire and he was aware of that. But thanks to his Sharingan, he was able to copy the technique and perform it with complete perfection, however using another element was actually taking quite a lot of chakra.

Nonetheless, he succeeded as the gust of wind he summoned repelled all the shuriken and kept soaring to the trio of Taki kunoichi.

The kunoichi immediately scattered again, however before they could act, Haru moved first. He dashed to one kunoichi before raising the tanto he took from the battlefield and striking at her.

Kunoichi 2 raised her own blade and clashed with Haru, but to her surprise the boy's strength was greater than she thought. Haru wasted no time, he spun his body and delivered a heel kick to her and it hit as she crashed away from the attack.

The boy landed on the ground after his attack and saw Kunoichi 3 ready for him as she already dashed with a sword poised to cut him.

Quickly, Haru jumped back to avoid the strike and he did. However the edge of the sword scratched his armor, indicating he was not fast enough and if there were no armor his stomache would clearly have been cut.

Before he was able to counter, he sensed a presence behind him just in time to twist his body to avoid being stabbed. He immediately hit Kunoichi 1 in the face with his forearm, the strength he had proving enough to make the woman stumble back.

Wasting no time, Haru turned around before sweeping away one of Kunoichi 1's legs, making her lose her balance. Haru's hand immediately blurred and grabbed her shirt before he turned again and threw the woman to Kunoichi 2.

Kunoichi 2 immediately paused in her tracks and caught her leader. However Haru did not give them a chance as he performed another set of hand seals.

**"Katon : Gōkakyu no Jutsu! (Fire Release : Great Firebal Technique)"**

Haru's chakra control already far surpassed most Chunin, it even could rival a Jonin's due to his harsh training. He spent most of his time on chakra control rather than normal jutsu. And combined with his affinity, it shouldn't have been a surprise when the fireball was as big as most adult people could spew out, which is eight meters in diameter at least.

The two kunoichi barely had time to dodge the gigantic flame ball. Haru did not stop, his eyes morphed to the Sharingan under his mask. Against one of them he was confident he could win without the Sharingan, but three at once?

His eyes immediately tracked Kunoichi 3, who dashed from his side. From his eyes, the kunoichi's movement was slow, he even could see it very clearly. He waited until the moment was complete before he clenched his fist.

'Channel chakra to tenketsu on the fist...' He gripped his fist tightly and it was glowing slightly. 'NOW!'

BAAANG! THRUST!

When the momentum was complete, Haru launched his fist. His chakra control training had actually become better when he brought Hinata with him. The Byakugan was clearly very helpful, and while true he was not Tsunade or even close to Sakura's level, the punch still hurt very badly when it hit directly.

Kunoichi 3 coughed up a glob of blood before she soared back to where she came from, her body crashing through several trees and continuing until it could no longer be seen.

Haru cocked back his arm and grunted while he inwardly gritted his teeth in pain. No matter how, channeling chakra to tenketsu was not easy, even with his chakra control it was still hard. He guessed he just fractured a few of his fingers.

'One down, but this is not over,' he thought.

"Ami!" Kunoichi 1 yelled in anger as she was just in time to see her friend get punched like that. "Damn you! Let's do collaboration!"

She and her friend immediately formed hand seals, then they cocked back their heads.

**"Katon Renkeijutsu : Karura! (Fire Release Co-Operation Technique : Garuda)"**

The two kunoichi spewed flames together and it combined, morphing into the form of a giant flaming dragon with glowing yellow eyes.

'Fuck!' Haru thought as he performed several hand seals. 'I must end this now!' **"Doton : Doryūheki (Earth Release : Earth Wall)"**

FWOOOOOSHHH!

The wall Haru performed was not strong, it was only an ordinary wall, and while it could defend against explosive kunai and normal flame jutsus it wouldn't be able to hold against the co-operation technique.

Fortunately for Haru, Karura was actually a technique that was formed by three people. Two people could perform it, but the power was not complete.

So his wall was still strong enough to defend against the flaming dragon but at a cost: he could feel quite a high degree of temperature.

As soon he felt the technique was over, Haru jumped from the wall and he threw the tanto he held in a vertical shuriken manner.

But the tanto did not hit any kunoichi, it soared and slip pass between them. Kunoichi 1 was about to taunt him, but she paused when she noticed Haru perform hand seals.

POOF

And he was replaced by the tanto he just threw.

'Shi-'

CRUNCH! HIT!

The two kunoichi just in time turned their faces to receive two full punches from Haru's enhanced chakra strength. The sound of bone being broken and snapping echoed from their jaws before both of them also met the same fate as Kunoichi 3. They crashed through several trees and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Haru panted as he felt exhaustion strike him, his adrenaline calmed down and he could feel the fatigue and pain from both his arm and the burns he receive due to the high temperature before.

'Shit! I swear my fingers now really are broken!' He thought with a groan as he felt pain from his fist. The fight was his win, but he never thought it would be this hard. He was expecting quite an easy fight after all, seeing as Kakashi could take them down like they were only simple ninja academy students in cannon!

He took a deep breath to calm himself for moment before deciding to act. He'd have to tie them and leave them fast. No doubt Konoha Shinobi woulg be there soon.

'Well... At least I know I can fight Jonin and Chunin level shinobi...,' he thought with a grunt before he moved to tie the kunoichi up. He'd have to leave from here fast and he already had a good plan for that, not to mention that now he was still under henge save for his attire which was real after all.

* * *

Later

"Are you telling me that you didn't find anything about the person who captured those three kunoichi?" Hiruzen asked in bewilderment. "Nothing at all?"

"Shamefully, yes...," Tsume Inuzuka admitted solemnly. "This person was wearing a very strange perfume. It consisted of pepper, garlic and every spice found in a kitchen! And I told you it was very strong to the point it made me sneeze just being near it! We can't try to track him/her because the smell is too much for us! And this person removed his outfit to make the scent disappear quickly." She then gestured to the ANBU Konoha attire that they found. "And I mean all of them, including underwear. This man/woman had to practically become naked just to flee from us!" She stated as she pointed to the underwear. She don't know whether she should be annoyed due to not get anything or impressed by the person's shameless persona.

"My Byakugan also already checked the surroundings to track the closest person. But sadly we found none. It seems the person was under Henge or his speed was so fast that he could travel sixteen kilometers away in only less than half an hour," Ko Hyuuga added his report.

Hiruzen took a deep inhale from his pipe before letting it out and exhaling the smoke. He rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on. "And about the person's appearance?" He asked to one Yamanaka member.

"He/she disguised his/herself as a boy.. Not older than fourteen years old, he would have spiky green hair, tanned skin like a person from Kumogakure and quite a slim figure," the Yamanaka said.

"How about the three kunoichi's wounds?"

"One crushed lung from the impact of a blunt object, and we assumed she got punched due to the fist print on the chest and a lesser one on her forehead. The other two suffered from broken jaws along with second degree burns," the medic-nin reported.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at that. Whoever this person was, he/she must possess quite the punch and was probably skilled in fire affinity jutsu.

And this person also know about Konoha... Enough to know about the Inuzuka, the Byakugan, and the Yamanaka and how they work to the point he was able to make the tracking and interrogation team unable find his/her tracks.

Either the person was that skilled or it came from inside...

'Root…,' Hiruzen's mind immediately went to his old friend's organization that he just commanded to disband. The chance of it being Danzo's doing was very high.

However Hiruzen knew his friend quite well and he knew Danzo wouldn't act after his organization was just disbanded by him like that. But that man already went on to do something without his knowledge many times before, so what was stopping it now?

'I will have a talk with him about this... And I hope it really is Danzo and his Root members. Because if it's not then we have a third party out there...,' he thought solemnly.

* * *

**Okay! We finally finish Ninja Academy arc! Yeaah!**

**As you can see Haru already made plan and formed alliance with Rookie 9**

**He also manipulate Sasuke to trust him and make him go away from his real goal, as you can see the change already began in here**

**In next chapter during timeskip when they graduate there will be character that become OC due to Haru influence**

**Haru strength, he currently stronger than most Chunin. He even can be compared to Jonin or low Jonin level. The training from Shisui and advanced training he get when he at young age**

**"But Kakashi and everyone not even that strong at their age!"**

**Let me tell you, Haru is adult, he is 30 years old man who trapped in young body. He have wisdom, brain, mental and everything adult have. He also have knowledge about Naruto World and never afraid to abuse it**

**Yes he stronger than Kakashi and Itachi when they at his age. But he lack of battle experience, this battle show it that he only win because caught his enemy in surprise**

**And you not need afraid, he won't become so strong to the point able to beat ninja like Kakashi when just graduated, even with his Sharingan if Kakashi go all out Haru will lose. But what Haru have as advantage is he aware of Kakashi technique and the way he fighting**

**He have so much knowledge, that his biggest power**

**Beside, the trio Kunoichi from Taki not that strong. Iruka can beat them one on one if he want but he have to protect Naruto that's why he flee**

**The trio Kunoichi not OC, you can find them in wikia, during Past Lotus Arc!**

**Anyway! Next chapter will be timeskip and the beginning of Genin arc!**

**Hmm I wonder which one that could enter same team with Haru eh?**

**You all can decide to make request which team he will be placed with of course if you want, just write it in review and tell me the reason why**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	7. Graduate from Academy!

**This chapter have been edited by ****Frouad****e! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 6. Graduate from Academy!**

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga woke up when her alarm turned on in the morning. She slowly rubbed her eyes and rose from the bed then turned off the alarm.

As she turned off her alarm in slightly dazed state, her mind suddenly drifted to what day today is...

It was academy graduation exam.

'Ninja Academy... It seems just yesterday I entered the academy…' Hinata thought with soft smile as she recalled the memory about ninja academy.

The time she spent in the ninja academy is one of the happiest times she ever had, if she must say.

There was Shino Aburame, heir of the Aburame clan. He is a lone boy, who always observes bugs. The boy is... Mysterious and unique in his own way as Hinata noted. His interest on insects makes him almost like outcast, despite this, there seems nothing wrong with him. He is also calm, collected and solitary person.

There's Naruto Uzumaki, her role model and brother figure. She still remembers when she met him the first time; the boy is cheerful and always able to make the atmosphere into happy even if they in depressed situation, all in all he seems to be like a normal boy.

Except the dirty glare and insult that everyone always throw at him.

Hinata don't know why - even Naruto himself also doesn't know - but the villagers and everyone else always try to put the boy down. They jeer at him, insult him, mock him, and look down on him, and by everyone she means everyone, it is almost like the whole village is against him.

But, despite all of this the boy never gives up. He is always smiling and brushes away their comments before training and tries his best to prove all those who insult him they are wrong.

And that time, Hinata started to admire him. She admires his determination to never give up even by looking down by the whole village, while she only got that from her family.

Hinata mourn soured slightly at the mention of her.

She knew she is not extraordinary person.

Despite her being daughter of Clan Head many of Main Family look down on her.

Hinata herself also knows that. Her shy, kind and timid nature is what makes her having hard time to become proper Hyuuga.

Her father stopped training her when she was eight due to her couldn't bring herself to hurt Hanabi in a spar. She actually could beat her, but she just couldn't harm her little sister.

So she lost, and her father also thinks she lost since Hanabi proved to be more fitting heiress.

She remembers that time when she was crying and her father passed her to Kurenai Yuhi care and protection. But not to Kurenai...

She was crying to Haru...

'Haru-kun…' Hinata face flushed slightly as he remembered the brown haired boy.

She still remembers when she fled from estate while crying, she unconsciously went to the training ground and accidentally Haru found her.

He asked her what's wrong and she told him everything, about how she deemed as a failure by her father and how she is unworthy and not fitting to be a shinobi.

**_"You are telling me you lost just because you were holding back and thanks to this, you are not worthy to become a shinobi?"_**

It was a simple statement and a question at same time spoken in dull tone. But when he put it that way, it sounds quite silly. She remembered that she began to sputter that time and Haru only shook his head.

Afterwards, Haru began to cheer her up. He helped her in training and while she also often trains alone, Haru sometime comes to help her along with Naruto.

The three of them spend their time together, train together, eat and talk together like a family. And there are Shino-kun and Sasuke-kun, too.

If their group is made into family, then Shino-kun is uncle, Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun are brothers, Haru-kun is the father and the mother is-

'Wawawawawa!' Hinata blushed as she imagined Haru and her become a family with chibi Naruto and Sasuke as their children.

She admits that at first she had a crush on Naruto instead of Haru, however after getting to know the blonde and Haru always pushing him to talk, the crush turned to a feeling of sibling love.

Naruto became her role model like a big brother, and as he grew closer to her as a big brother the feeling she felt when she had a crush on him is gone. Not to mention the boy remained oblivious, really, his dense level is probably higher than anyone in Konoha or even in the Land of Fire.

Meanwhile, Haru is something else... It was him who started everything... It was him who started to bring happiness into her life... When she was sad Haru always was there for her, giving her support and even provided solutions to her problems.

The boy is also strong, very strong for someone at his age. She had stalk-err… observed him to make sure he will not hurt himself-, few times and she found out that Haru-kun is very strong. She even wouldn't be surprised if he could beat Neji-niisan

She often wonders why such wonderful, prodigy and strong person like Haru-kun spends time with a failure like her, and when she asked him, his answer made her feel better.

**_"Hinata... You are amazing person the way you are. And you must know, no matter how prodigy, how strong I become you will always be better Human than me. Why? Because someone like you is a very special in this World. A woman who is able to show compassion, strong and kind. That is what you are..."_**

She actually did not understand fully what he said, but she knew part of what he said. He meant she is special... He meant she is amazing... He meant she is the best when she is... She...

"Hinata-sama? Are you awake?"

"E-Eh? Y-Yes!" She yelped as she broke out from her mind about Haru.

"The bathroom is ready; you better be fast if you don't want to be late for your graduation exam."

"H-Hai!"

She immediately removed the blanket that covered her and stood up. She could think about Haru-kun and everyone later, for now she had exam to pass.

And hopefully she will be placed in the same team with Haru-kun.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha grunted as he just finished taking a bath, his towel was hanging around his neck. He was shirtless and only wore his white short pants.

As he was drying his wet hair, he glanced at the calendar and noticed it was the day of graduation exam.

For Sasuke, the time he went through in Ninja Academy was long, very long and so many happen during his six years in academy.

It was because the major event that changed everything about his life.

Uchiha Massacre...

At mention of the event Sasuke couldn't help, but put grim look as his memories went to that horrible night. Now he thought about the event, what happened that night, despite being very horrific, it is also filled with many holes just like Haru said.

Haru...

Remembering the name of the friend who gave him light in his darkest moment, Sasuke couldn't help, but had his lips curled to smile slightly.

After the day Haru told him how Uchiha Massacre has many holes, he went and sat with him at lunch break next day.

He wanted to talk with Haru more about massacre and he knew Haru is the only person who seemed smart enough to talk with. He was also close to Shisui since that man was always talking about how Haru resembles Itachi so much, -though he didn't use Haru name that time to Sasuke annoyance since he was teasing him a lot-

However, much to Sasuke dismay that boy actually seemed to has multiple personalities! One time he can act like adult and even like Itachi, but the next time he can become like Shisui! That guy is not normal, mind you, and Sasuke will not bother to not voice it aloud!

When he sat with Haru, Naruto, Hinata and Shino. Haru did not talk about massacre, but talked about how he tried to enjoy his life for moment, trying to make friends or such thing.

It did not work, obviously.

But it worked when Haru said to him privately that what happened to Uchiha actually has so many holes, and not even he could tell the truth.

Rather than focusing to find out, it would be better if he asked Itachi directly later when they will meet and of course he needs to be strong when he meets his brother again.

And training together is a better way rather than alone, that what Haru said. Not to mention having allies when facing Itachi will be better than facing him alone.

At first Sasuke didn't want... It because he was afraid... Afraid it will hurt so much when the bonds will be severed again... But despite of that, he knew deep inside he didn't want to be alone...

The last three days he had been waking up in middle of night with nightmare and when he tried to find comfort... There was no one in there...

It was few days after he sat in the same place with Haru and his group. One day in middle of night he had awoken when he just had another nightmare.

But he was not alone... There was Haru to comfort him...

It was quite late, bordering to morning, around 03:00AM. Apparently, Haru was in the middle of his training since it was Sunday and there was no academy, he was training early and later he would go back to sleep.

When Haru spotted Uchiha compound, he decided to check it since he had never been there before. And when he was near he heard scream.

Sasuke still remembers when he mistook Haru as Itachi at that time, the calm and kind voice yet holding power like his brother always had before he massacred the family.

**_"Ssshh, ssshh. Calm down Sasuke, you are not alone. Your friend is here with you. Don't worry you will be fine."_**

And ever since that day, Sasuke was never alone in his house again.

As he finished wearing his blue Uchiha shirt and white arm warmers, Sasuke took glance at the mirror before his eyes flashed, turned to crimson red with two tomoe on right eye and one tomoe on the left eye.

He had awoken his Sharingan last week when he was fighting against Naruto. Apparently, the blonde just got new technique called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique), he was taught by Hokage himself because that damn blonde has too much chakra - which Sasuke begrudgingly admits - more than he has, Naruto chakra is the largest in their generation and Haru is the second largest.

And when he started to bombard him with the clones, let's just say, it was quite hard to fight dozens of the blondes at same time.

Until he awakened his eyes when he was in middle of fight and after that the battle was pretty much even -it was his victory in his mind-

He took a moment to observe the Sharingan he had and scowled when he still did not reawaken his second tomoe on his left eye. He has a long way to go.

Then he exited the room after making sure his outfit is clean, and he immediately granted by the smell of cooked breakfast.

He went to the dining room and saw his friend preparing breakfast on the table for them.

"Morning, Sasuke..."

* * *

BANG! BANG! BANG!

...

...

...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Dobe! Are you still sleeping?! Breakfast is already set!"

Naruto let out groan before he slowly rose from his bed like Dracula just rose from his coffin.

"I'm awake, Teme! Stop yelling, damnit!" He yelled back while groaning in annoyance.

"Then quickly wake up and clean yourself! The graduation exam is today, moron! We can't be late!"

Naruto only groaned again in response as he rubbed his eyes, truthfully he was quite nervous last night due to exam today and it resulted he couldn't sleep.

'Graduation exam... Finally...' Naruto thought as he stared at the sky through window. He is finally going to become a shinobi!

Like Sasuke, his years in academy were long. It because the childhood he had sucked -glare from people and villager-, companied with boring lectures in the academy.

But thankfully, there was Haru...

He still remembers that day... The day when Haru came and extended his hand to him with a smile:

**_"Name's Haru, want to be my friend?"_**

A simple seven words... A simple offer... And it saved him from the darkness that surrounds him.

For Naruto, Haru is his first friend, best friend, heck no! More than that! Haru is his brother in anything but blood! He is the first person that acknowledged him and treated him with gentle like human being at least save for Jiji.

That time, even if it was just one person, only Haru. The happiness Naruto felt was beyond anything he could think of.

For the first time in his life, he had a friend...

However, at that time part of his mind was whispering him that the boy was lying, he will abandon and hate him like everyone else before.

But he never did.

Haru never tried to shun or abandon him. In fact, he stood on his side, daring everyone to bully him and defended him from everyone.

Even when Naruto tried to escape from him since Haru also got treated badly by the Matron; Haru kept being stubborn and stood on his side.

He taught him how to read, taught him the new things, read him stories, taught him things he didn't know, cooked for him, shopped for him -sometimes he got yelled at when he entered the shop-, trained with him in Shinobi art.

He is always there and supports him like a brother or parents and Naruto considers him as one had the brown haired boy actually someone at his age

And from Haru, he got many friends. Hinata-chan, Shion and... The Teme... Yeah, the Teme is his friend, despite him being so annoying...

It is thanks to Haru that he has so many friends and can reach this far.

If there one person he could allow to become Hokage at their generation before him it would be Haru.

But it won't happen seeing Haru has no interest to become one and he said he will only become his advisor or some Ninja. He still doesn't know why though, becoming Hokage is awesome after all! But Naruto won't refuse if it is Haru's wish to become his advisor.

He broke out from his daydream, where he became Hokage with Haru on his side and Sasuke was kneeling in front of him, when the smell of the breakfast reached his nose.

Damn! Haru is good at cooking as always! Other than Ichiraku, Haru cooking is his favourite!

Imagining about becoming Hokage could be done later. Now he better to have bath. He doesn't want to miss Haru's breakfast and be late for his exam after all

* * *

Later

"Give me that tomato, Dobe."

"Not before you give that potato, Teme."

"You already have yours! Now give me that tomato!"

"You also have your own tomato!"

"I ask it because you don't eat your tomato and it would be a waste to discard it!"

"Well! You also do the same with your potato! So why the hell don't you give it to me?!

I hold the urge to sigh as I watch Naruto and Sasuke who began their daily ruckus. Really, these two always fight each other even in most simple things, such as breakfast.

It's been four years ever since Uchiha Massacre happened, and it also been four years ever since we moved from apartment to Uchiha compound.

Why did we move to Uchiha compound?

My plan is to deepen Sasuke and Naruto bonds, and also to make sure I can watch them under my radar.

I actually don't care if Sasuke went rogue, it will be better in fact. He will kill Orochimaru in the end and that would very useful for this World.

However, it wasn't necessary because I already have a plan for him, same like the one about Danzo later, and if Sasuke went rogue, it will give Obito chance to manipulate him.

Sorry, Obito, but I'm not sharing my toy to someone who in fact is also a toy.

Moving to Uchiha Compound was not hard, after I comforted Sasuke that night, we became friends. Then I asked his permission to move to this compound.

He was about to deny, but when I mentioned the nightmare he blanched and accepted it.

True, the Cannon Sasuke wouldn't bother with the nightmare, but this Sasuke, this Sasuke is still a boy who doesn't have goal -thanks to my talk with him-, and like all boys and children, he doesn't want to be alone and is still afraid.

It was so easy to manipulate him.

And Hokage also agreed with me, it seems he doesn't want Sasuke to be left alone since he doesn't want the boy to walk to dark path.

Of course, I didn't say to Sasuke I will bring Naruto.

And his face when I brought Naruto with me is priceless

Though he and Naruto appeared to dislike it, but I can tell they were silently comfortable with each other. Don't know why though, but they seem to accept each other presence.

This is because those two are quite similar; they are boys who are traumatized at their very young age just like Hinata. Among all Rookie 9, Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata possess the worst childhood. The others, meanwhile, got it very light.

So I'm not surprised, if those three could become good friends, which is true seeing their relationship is like siblings, where Hinata or me acts as peacemaker between those two.

Shino?

Well, he acts more like sidekick, and sometime he adds fuel to the fire with the way he speaks. He is more like uncle or something like that.

"Alright, you two! Just eat your own food and don't take each other's." I interjected with sigh "Seriously, we have an exam today!"

Both boys grumbled, but nodded nonetheless and I smiled slightly while staring at them. Sasuke outfit is basically the same as in Cannon and Naruto, no, he is not wearing his neon orange jacket. But he wears the outfit he was wearing during "Naruto the Movie 3 Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom", except the white bracelet is replaced with a black one.

And I must say he looks better in this.

I, myself, wear light grey high collared tracksuit with black lining and black stripes along the bottom with sleeve cuffs and the zip is undone, and I also wear a black long pants plus black shinobi sandals. Underneath the jacket I wear plain white t-shirt.

"So, ready for the graduation exam?" I joked lightly.

"You bet I am! I'm born ready for this!" Naruto declared boldly and I held snort back. If it weren't for me you would fail three times in the exam.

"The exam is simple, we should pass. We are, after all, better than average Genin.", Sasuke said confidently, which is true, Sasuke and Naruto are stronger than their Cannon when they were just graduated.

Both of them already able to do tree climbing, Naruto already knows Kage Bunshin and Sasuke awoken his Sharingan early. For Kage Bunshin, it was my idea when I brought it to Hokage and he agreed to teach Naruto the jutsu because he was failing to graduate as he can't perform Bunshin due to having too much chakra is stupid.

"Good, if you all are confident. Just remember to do your best and stay calm, especially you, Naruto.", I said with flat stare and he scowled while Sasuke smirked

"Hey! I take offense on that! I already read those damn books! And I am sure I will pass!" Naruto yelled "Besides, I'm not nervous at all!"

"You fell asleep late last night, didn't you?" I simply stated and he blanched "So much for not nervous." I snorted and Sasuke did not bother to hide his snicker.

"Teme! What are you laughing at?!"

"Nothing, Dobe..."

"Damn you, Teme! I will-"

"Eat your damn food, you two! We will be late if you will keep fighting!"

So much for peaceful morning that I have used to have, damn! Why did I move to this place again?

* * *

Few hours later

Hiruzen Sarutobi was puffing his pipe as he was reading the pack of data he held.

The data contained the results of academy test that was done just three hours ago.

As he began to read the data, he couldn't help but to smile when saw Naruto passed the exam. While the grade is quite bad it was still acceptable, and the taijutsu, shurikenjutsu and ninjutsu were filling the hole.

All in all, he passed academy higher than standard need.

Sasuke Uchiha, Rookie of the Year in this generation. His grade is good and his taijutsu, shurikenjutsu and ninjutsu are also perfect. Indeed, Naruto can be compared to Sasuke, however Naruto's bad academic grade was his downhill.

Hinata Hyuuga, the top Kunoichi of the Year in this generation, and like Sasuke, she was also doing it pretty good. Her taijutsu is better than Sasuke's, her grade is equal with him, although her ninjutsu, shurikenjutsu and grade loss were against her.

This girl is quite talented, how Hiashi deemed her as failure is still unknown to him.

Sakura Haruno is the second top Kunoichi. Her grade is perfect, even better than Sasuke's. However, her taijutsu is not that good, her shurikenjutsu and ninjutsu are only one level above average.

Ino Yamanaka, heir of the Yamanaka clan, could be considered as a second top Kunoichi as well. While her grade is not as good as Sakura's, on other hand she wins in ninjutsu aspect, and the rest of her grades are the same as Sakura's.

And then there is Haru.

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed at the boy's data as he began to read it.

Haru is the second best Shinobi (**A/N: Shinobi actually considered as male normally)**. His grade is higher than Sasuke's, his taijutsu and his shurikenjutsu are also comparabale, while his ninjutsu is not. That is the reason he lost.

However, Hiruzen knew well, Haru shouldn't be a Genin... In fact, he should be Chunin or Elite Jonin perhaps. He still remembers about Shisui report about Haru before the Uchiha died.

At age of 6, Haru already was at High-Genin level Shinobi and even could take down low-Chunin perhaps. The only reason he did not become Shinobi is because Haru wanted to stay with Naruto and children of his age.

He is also aware that the boy also knows about his status and why until now Hiruzen did not graduate him earlier.

As a matter of fact, Hiruzen did not have a problem with that; the boy can learn to enjoy his time as a child, not to mention the boy now makes the last Uchiha in Konoha happier and strides away from his dark path.

Hiruzen had to admit that decision he made to let the boy stay with Naruto and his generation is a good decision, not only he makes the current generation better, but he also probably prevents another Orochimaru to be born.

Oh, he doesn't know that he is playing at the said second Orochimaru hand.

However, there is another problem...

Team replacement...

Hiruzen already planned that Sasuke and Naruto will be in one team with Kakashi Hatake as the Jonin. Not just those two are close, but with Uchiha clan and Kakashi Sharingan, they will probably be able to suppress Kyuubi if the fox will try to do something. Furthermore, Kakashi won't miss a chance to teach his teacher's son and to pay debt to Obito, seeing that Sasuke is the last Uchiha.

Meanwhile, the third member is either Hinata Hyuuga or Sakura Haruno. He still can't decide it who will be placed with them and who will be placed with Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame.

Hinata Hyuuga could fit in both places considering that she is also close to both boys and they could become a good tracker team.

Sakura Haruno also could fit; she probably could become medic or illusion specialist for both teams, seeing that she seems to have a good chakra control.

Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi are in the one team. The new generation InoShikaChou will be born through them after all.

Now Haru is the problem...

Haru while could fit with any other 17 Genin, however he is too advanced, he is just practically too high level for the normal Genin. He had heard from Naruto how Haru fought against him, Hinata and Sasuke at the same time and WON!

Those three apparently could put down solid Chunin if worked together, Hiruzen had no doubt, but Haru won against them and Naruto mention Haru was possibly holding back.

This boy is not a Genin... He already could be considered as a Chunin...

Hiruzen held sigh as he rubbed his temple, maybe he could place him with the Kosuke Maruboshi. Hiruzen held back a snicker at that, that guy was also Jonin level Shinobi or more, he had been taught by him and Tobirama Senju.

Asking one of Danzo's subordinate? Oh yeah, while he has an order to disband Root, however Hiruzen knows well that there are a few of Root members that are still lurking around him.

'No, it's not an option. Haru is already dark enough and his only light is this generation, if Danzo gets his hand on him...' Hiruzen face became grim as image of his pale white skinned former student flashed in his mind. In Danzo's hand, Haru will become second Orochimaru sooner or later, and that was what he wanted to avoid. Talented person like Haru at this peaceful age is a very rare after all and it will better if he will not become stray.

Suddenly, one paper with a symbol of the certain clan caught his attention and he blinked.

Team with one Genin is certainly impossible, but...

'I think I have a good idea where I am going to put this boy...' Hiruzen thought as grin formed on his face.

Suddenly, the door opened and revealed one of his secretaries entering the office.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto-san came as you asked." She reported.

"Send him in..." Hiruzen said with a nod and she nodded back before leaving. As soon as she left, Hiruzen sighed.

This is it, he already planned to tell the boy about his status as a Jinchuuriki when he became Genin. Though, he originally planned to do this when Naruto became Chinin at least, so about his heritage. Nonetheless, he couldn't hide the Jinchuuriki part.

Sooner or later it is bound to happen, while being a Genin he is only going to face bandits mostly, but who knows, if there will be an accident and the boy will find it out by himself? That will be worse.

And another reason is being that the boy now has friends and people who acknowledge him. Like Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Haru. The boy will be fine, he was sure about it, Naruto is strong after all.

"Oi, Jiji! Why are you calling me, ttebayo?! Haru is going to cook a special dish to celebrate our graduation!" Naruto demanded and whined at same time as he was entering the office.

Hiruzen in response merely exhaled smoke from his pipe and stared at him with a stern look, the Hokage looked directly at Naruto.

"Sit down Naruto-kun, I want to tell you something important."

* * *

Meanwhile at one training ground in Konoha.

Mizuki couldn't believe his luck as he threw countless shurikens to one of the targets.

His plan was to manipulate the demon boy failed! Totally failed!

Mizuki knew the boy couldn't perform Bunshin no Jutsu, and while it was true, his taijutsu, shurikenjutsu are decent, though with ninjutsu and his bad grade it would make him fail.

Anyhow, what he didn't expect is the boy will come with the letter permission from Hokage that allows him to use another clone technique!

And he found out it comes from Haru.

Mizuki hates that boy...

That boy is really annoying and how Mizuki wishes he could kill the boy! The boy is always on the fox boy side and always supports him! He also stopped one of his acts when he tried to sabotage the demon boy!

And now, thanks to that boy too, his plan to get Forbidden Scroll to give it to Orochimaru is ruined!

He has to think about another plan... He couldn't manipulate normal students because he knew they will fail, Naruto is the exception seeing Hokage is quite fond of him and the demon boy stealth skill is quite good.

Another plan... He needs another plan, but what?!

"Chunin Mizuki..."

Mizuki stiffened when he heard a voice; he did not even sense whoever called him! He turned around and saw it was an ANBU... The ANBU was, of course, in his duty attire, but strangely having blank mask. He also seemed quite young by his voice and had black hair with pale white skin.

"Yes?" Mizuki asked, trying his best to bury the anger inside him for now while narrowing his eyes at the ANBU "What can I do for you, ANBU-san?"

The ANBU answer was only silence before he slowly pulled out his tanto making Mizuki stiffened.

"I need you to tell me everything about your connection with Orochimaru..." The ANBU said coldly.

* * *

**Opening of Genin arc, yeah! As you can see many thing happen in four years after the massacre**

**The growth in Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto is few of them. And if you asking is this going to be HaruxHinata the answer is remain unknown**

**Remember Haru and everyone still at age 12, the pairing still not decided. Haru close to Hinata also because she is Hyuuga and daughter of clan head, the pairings still not decided and you all could give review which woman will be paired with him if you want**

**Naruto and Sasuke pairing also going to be decided later, and like Haru's you can give suggestion of course and also add the reason why, same thing occur to Haru too**

**Team replacement, Team Asuma will remain same, the one that will change either it will be team 7 or team 8**

**And which team Haru going to enter? Is he going to be paired with OC?**

**Hahaha Haru fate will be mystery and I already have plan for him but you all welcome to give suggestion, remember to give them fast since I probably going to update in two days or tomorrow**

**And the ANBU that attack Mizuki, I don't think I need to tell you who is he. But I will just in case, if there someone who too dense, no offense okay? The identity of the ANBU is Haru**

**Oh by the way, did you read Naruto Gaiden? Had you see Sarada when she find picture of Karin?**

**Oh God those two is very alike! I swear Sarada should be Karin daughter instead Sakura! Why Kishimoto?! Why you try to pull our leg like this damnit!**

**I read in wikia that Sarada face is like Sakura and I will said BULLSHIT! She look more like Karin you moron! Why the heck Kishimoto make Sarada so look alike Karin anyway?! Just give Sarada pink hair! Though I actually have hard time imagine female version of Sasuke with pink hair XP**

**Anyway! Next Chapter will be the test from Jonin and about Haru and his team! So stay tune to find out about it!**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	8. New Team or Old Team?

**This chapter have been edited by ****Frouad****e! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 7. New Team or Old Team?**

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out sigh while straightening his Hokage hat. The talk with Naruto went better than he expected.

When he revealed it to Naruto the blond was practically frozen in shock before he became angry, angry to the point his chakra shimmered around him.

And he gave Naruto time to calm down, but he was not leaving from their place. After a moment Naruto took to calm down, he asked: "Why? Why was it him?"

The broken face of his successor's son hurts Hiruzen heart when he saw it. But he is Hokage and he was strong enough to not show the pain.

He told Naruto that there was no other child born that day –which was technically true, no baby was born that night other than Naruto- and it must be newborn baby since adult or growing baby already have their chakra growth.

He told Naruto how it was painful for him to seal the fox into him and how he is sorry for doing that. He gave Naruto a hug and the blond cried for the first time after so long.

After calming down, the blond became quite nervous about what if his friends will find out, however Hiruzen assured he didn't have to tell them, although he said that if they are really his friends, then they will understand.

Naruto seemed satisfied afterwards and then they began to talk to each other for a moment before Naruto decided to go back to Uchiha compound, apparently, it was already late and he didn't want to miss Haru's cooking. The Hokage agreed since he often ate Haru's food -the boy send it for him every week ever since he started cooking- and he admits it is delicious.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door and he blinked, then he turned to see the clock and it was already night. Who would visit him?

"Come in..." He called.

And the door opened to reveal it was his secretary, however Hiruzen immediately sensed something was wrong with her and his eyes sharpened as he stared with steel eyes on the woman.

The secretary seemed to be unfazed before she dropped to the ground like lifeless doll and behind her emerged a figure wearing ANBU outfit. He had blank ANBU mask, pale white skin, short black hair and appeared to be young.

The Hokage also noticed that this man smelled... Bad... It was mix of... Pepper, garlic and... Ughh, it clearly gave quite bad impression to his nose and it only thanks to his hardened battle experience in war that he was able to hold himself.

"She is not dead, but in genjutsu." The fake ANBU said, "Well, I must say that meeting second Kami no Shinobi directly after Hashirama is something." He stated with humour in his tone.

"Who are you?" Hokage demanded sternly as he was already standing 'He is under Henge...' He thought because he could sense the Chakra which covered the whole ANBU body.

"Me? I'm just a Ghost, you can call me Rei..." 'Rei' stated with amusement in his tone, "I came here to drop one of the people who work for a certain snake in Konoha."

At the mention of the 'snake' Hiruzen immediately stiffened, the image of his former student flashed in his mind and his face turned grim.

"Interested, aren't you?" Rei asked and gave a slight chuckle "Well, do you want to find this man? I already captured him and tied him near Memorial Stone, on his shoulder you will find Cursed Seal of Orochimaru. That is more than a good proof and a permission to check his memory." He explained while making gestures with his hand.

"And how can I trust you? It could be trap after all..." Hiruzen coldly replied.

"That's not my problem as far I know." Rei said almost in pure tone as if he was enjoying Hiruzen cold demeanour instead of fearing it, "However, if you want to know, this is not the first time I am doing Konoha a favour...", He said and Hiruzen furrowed his eyebrows "Four years ago, Taki Kunoichi tried to infiltrate Konoha and stole the patrol schedule of the village."

"You are the ANBU who captured those kunoichi..." Hiruzen muttered with slightly widened eyes after realization. He had to interrogate Danzo afterwards and found nothing about the mysterious ninja, Danzo himself stated that it wasn't his work this time and appeared to be upset when some ninja managed to sneak into their place that easily.

"Correct, Sarutobi Hiruzen, if you want to say thanks, then can I get forbidden scroll as a present?" Rei asked in humorous tone, "All jokes aside, I have no motive to harm Konoha. Like I said I'm only a Ghost..." Rei stated in a slightly stern tone, "And don't bother to knock me because I'm only a clone, if you do so I will disappear." He added.

Hiruzen only narrowed his eyes at him. This man… He was able to sneak in to Konoha and also knows a way to erase his tracks and the way to avoid being chased by them. This man either knows much about Konoha or he is a very strong Shinobi.

"You really don't have intention to harm Konoha?" He asked again.

"Yes... At least not now, this generation proved to be bright enough for the future." Rei replied "Wouldn't you agree?" He asked in strange soft tone.

Hiruzen mind flashed to the whole Konoha Genin and couldn't help but put slight smile at his bright face. Indeed, this generation was bright.

"I see you agree... I only will become enemy of Konoha if the village will turn out to be corrupt..." Rei stated, "After all, I can't have Hashirama's and Madara's legacy turned into something they never wished in the first place..." He smirked slightly under his mask, "Very well, I will take my leave. We will meet again and hopefully not soon, Sandaime."

Before Hiruzen could reply, the man exploded into poof of white smoke. The Hokage gritted his teeth and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

'Whoever was that man... He is dangerous... And there is no guarantee he is actually friend of Konoha... But still... He spoke about Hashirama-sama and Madara as if he knew them personally... Who is he?' Hiruzen deeply thought as he knew this mysterious person is dangerous just by the way he speaks.

The tone he used ever since they began talking is the tone that said 'I know everything about your secret', he also was not tensed or nervous when Hiruzen sent killing intent to him and that was something.

'Rei... I better call Jiraiya about this...' He thought, as Jiraya spy network could be useful in times like this.

* * *

I blinked as memory of my **Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)** entered my brain and I couldn't help but to slighly smirk.

The meeting with Hokage went just as I planned.

Rei is the name for my second identity I created. The purpose of that identity is so I can manipulate the Hokage and everyone openly, without revealing the side that I never show to anyone.

While it is true that I'm not completely bad guy and will save innocence, however I am only going to do that if I am sure there won't be anything that would bite me back in ass.

I won't call myself good and it is true I'm evil, but at least I still have my moral intact and know limits that I shouldn't cross while I'm still Human at least.

Of course, the moment I will get Rinnegan on my eyes I will ascend into Gods. Unlike Nagato who can't use full power of Rinnegan and limited from his Uzumaki body.

Mine is Uchiha and I know how to use those eyes, when I will get those eyes and Gedo Mazo on my side there won't be anyone who could stand against me.

"H-Haru-kun?"

I blinked again and turned to Hinata, who was on my side. The woman's outfit is also like in cannon, I can tell she almost squeaked or something like that when I did this. Damn, this girl has it bad, eh? I never thought she will fall to me, and I was trying my best to push her to Naruto early.

"Y-You dazed off..."

"Eh? Sorry, I just have something to think about...' I said with a slight sheepish grin.

Right now I was walking her to her home. After we all passed graduation exam, I invited Hinata and Shino to come to Uchiha compound to celebrate with us.

At first, I invited the whole Rookie 9, but each of them had their own celebration. Shikamaru, Ino and Choji had party along with the older InoShikaChou. Same goes for Kiba, Sakura and Shino.

Meanwhile, Hinata is different. Apparently, Hiashi is a quite strict parent and he only said few words of congratulations, though there was a little lecture due to her loss to Sasuke. Couldn't be helped, Hyuuga and Uchiha rivalry is quite complicated. Not as complicated as Senju and Uchiha, though.

So she came to celebrate with us until this hour and that's how you found me walking her home now.

"T-Thinking a-about what, Haru-kun?" Hinata asked me while tilting her head.

"Team replacement in the next two days..." I said. "I wonder in which one I will be placed..." I mused aloud.

"O-Oh..." Hinata said, "I-I think whoever placed with you they will be fine." She spoke softly with slight smile and when I furrowed my eyebrows at her, her face adorned by pink hue "I-I mean, you are very strong and smart. S-So I think y-you will be able to work with everyone. Actually, I-I often wonder w-why Hokage-sama did not make you graduated early, y-you are already v-very strong, after all."

Well, it is because he doesn't want to create second Orochimaru. He is afraid I will become rogue Shinobi one day like his former student, though if I do graduate early I would already become Elite Jonin. However I don't want to because I can play my games much better if I will graduate with current generation.

And manipulating that old man's fear is easy given that Orochimaru went rogue when we were still children after all, so he is much more paranoid than his normal self for the moment.

"Thank you, Hinata." I smiled and she blushed "Oh we are here..." I said as I notice as we already arrived at Hyuuga Compound.

Hinata also tilted her head and saw her home, she seemed to appear to be quite down. I have no doubt she wanted to spend time alone with me, really, romance feeling is a troublesome thing.

But I don't have time for such thing, I will think about it after I will ascend to my Godhood after receiving Rinnegan.

"Well, I guess, this is it..." I said, "See you next time, Hinata..." I smiled and she blushed again.

"H-Hai! S-See you soon, H-Haru-kun!" She replied while looking down and poking her index fingers together.

I nodded before I turned around and left. As soon as I got out from her sight, I immediately performed **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)** and gone in a blur of black.

I already practiced Shunshin no Jutsu for a long time after I witnessed Shisui performing it. Do you want to know what makes Shisui's Shunshin special?

He performs it fast, very fast. His chakra control is very high to the point he is able to utilize large amount of chakra to all his body to perform super-fast Shunshin.

That guy was talented I told you, he and Itachi could become Godaime Hokage if the Uchiha Massacre never happened.

I tried to copy his Shunshin, after all time I spent for chakra control I tried to perform the same way like him. However, much to my dismay, a copy will be a copy I guess. My Shunshin compared to him is only second rate.

But that still makes me fast enough, faster than most Jonin. And I am actually not the only one who possesses such speed. Rock Lee without his weight could be on par with Jonin.

I may be able to take that guy if I also remove my weights, but if he performs Eight Gate, I may have to use Sharingan to be able to win. And since I often fight without Sharingan, because I am hiding it, which is a high feat in my list.

Itachi became ANBU Captain at age of 13 and he was able to go toe on toe with Shisui, who was very fast. I at age of 12 probably could challenge him or beat him if he was at my age, although the chance I would lose is big seeing I have no battle experience.

And this far all enemies I faced were only Chunin... Mizuki? Heck, he is only low-Chunin level! The only reason why Iruka lost against him is because he already got giant shuriken stuck to his back!

Sparring against Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata is actually challenging. They could take down low or mid Jonin if they worked together and I am still able to beat them without Sharingan.

And because my enemy is not balanced, I became dull... Despite having too much power, I have almost no experience or chance to use it.

Oh well, I have learned Kage Bunshin by copying it from Naruto. While I can only create 20 clones -my chakra reserves reached Jonin level- but 20 is a still quite number and damn, you are right, I immediately abused it!

However, there is a problem, turned out Kage Bunshin is not as easy as film said. The Jutsu also does not give people brain damage like everyone thinks however the side effects are still dangerous.

It will not give you brain damage, but it will give all the experience and skill that clone do.

Imagine it like this: you used 20 Kage Bunshin to work for a one hour, and when you dispelled the result would be 20 hours of work.

And added your Chakra exhaustion after performing the jutsu, let's just say, it is death that waits for you.

I only used eight clones, told them to work for chakra control and I trained my taijutsu. After I was done with my training season, I immediately collapsed and woke up next day, at noon... And I collapsed when it was afternoon... I was unconscious for more than 16 hours, damnit!

Only Naruto could perform Kage Bunshin training because that boy is Jinchuuriki of motherfucking Kyuubi! The Bijuu that possesses half power of Juubi in its incomplete form! Added with his Uzumaki strong stamina it allows him to endure the training.

Why couldn't I be reborn as Naruto then? If I was, I would become strong faster! Ughh! Damnit!

As I enter the Uchiha Compound while grumbling under my breath about not being Jinchuuriki I noticed there was someone at the backyard.

I blinked before focused and caught glimpse of blonde hair in the night.

"Naruto?" I called and he seemed to be freaked out by my voice as he slightly jumped.

"Haru!" Naruto almost yelled to me "Don't surprise me like that!"

"I'm just calling you!" I retorted while rolling my eyes, "Why are you not asleep? Sasuke is already sleeping, right?" I asked.

"Eh? Umm yeah, Teme is already asleep." Naruto answered "I just... Well, I just wanted to take some fresh air before sleeping, ya know." He said it with a grin, but I could tell he was really nervous.

During the dinner today Naruto also appeared to be rather troubled. Only I noticed it because I spent a long time with him and I know him well, either from watching him in my World or being close to him in this World.

He was called by Hokage if I recall... So why is he...

Ah...

"So you found out..." I said it aloud making Naruto look at me in surprise, confused and slightly panicked.

"H-Huh?"

"About the fox." I continued and he became paler, fear and panic were shown very clear on his face now and I couldn't help but to put a sad look. To see that kind of face and emotion in Naruto, who was always cheerful is a sad thing.

"Y-You know? A-About the fox?" Naruto stammered out, then his face turned to sad expression and he looked almost crying "Then... If... If you don't want to be my friend anymore it's-"

"Ever since we were 10..." I cut him and his eyes widened as he snapped his gaze to me "I found it when we were 10... I accidentally read about the Kyuubi Attack once again in library and noted the date is the same as your birthday. At first I ignored it, but when I saw the seal on your stomach when you were channelling Chakra, I put two and two together…" I said in solemn tone before I put nonchalant look "It's been two years since I found about it and I am still here, right? What does that mean?"

As I asked that, I walked to Naruto, his eyes were wide open and there were slight tears wetting them. His face showed surprise, shock and disbelief, but I could tell there was hope and relief on his face.

"That means I don't care." I said softly as I stood in front of him and smiled, staring at him, then I placed my hand on top of his head "To me, you are Naruto Uzumaki. King of Pranksters of Konoha, the Number One Hyperactive and Knucklehead Ninja in Konoha." I began to pat his head and grinned "And lastly, my little brother..." I finished.

It was too much for Naruto as his tears trailed down from his eyes and his face scrunched to reveal crying expression before he jumped at me and gave me a hug.

"Haru-nii!" He wailed as he hugged me and I let out soft omphf due to the impact that came from him.

I only smiled before hugging him back and started to rub his back softly like parent comforting his child. Let it out, Naruto, you do not need to bury your emotions, just let it out. Like I always said, letting your emotion out is better than burying it.

That night, in years I finally saw Naruto cry again.

* * *

Two days later.

I really don't know what is going on.

Today is the day when team replacement is announced and all new Genin now gathering in academy and are probably enthusiastic waiting for their new day as a ninja.

Well, all Genin save for me...

Right now, instead sitting with Naruto or Sasuke, I found myself standing in front of Hokage office, waiting to be called by Hokage himself.

How did it happen?

It was this morning when I, Naruto and Sasuke reach Ninja Academy gate. In there, I found one ANBU waiting for me and he said the Hokage wants to meet me.

Of course, Naruto protested openly and was about to attack the ANBU had Sasuke not step in. Seriously, that guy started being protective to me, who is the one older anyway?!

And that's how now I am standing in the front of Hokage office.

It wasn't too long for me to wait as the door opened, revealing the familiar secretary face that I put under Genjutsu two days ago.

"The Hokage will see you, you can go in." She said with a smile and I nodded before I entered the office.

As soon I entered the office I was greeted by face of the familiar old man who sat behind his desk and he smiled at me, however what caught my attention were another two figures which stood in the corners of the office.

The first one was a girl around my age. She had a long brown straight hair on one side while the other side it was in a braid, she also wore clips on the braid side and there was Konoha forehead protector on her head -I wear mine also on forehead-. Her skin was pale, not as pale as Sai, but it was paler than me or Sasuke and she had light brown eyes.

She was wearing a purple kimono-like shirts that had long right sleeve and short on the left that were held close by a wide pink sash with red mesh armor underneath it. She also wore short black pants that reached few cm above her knee and black shinobi sandals.

The second was a man, he had brown shoulder length hair which hangs about his face and brown eyes. He wore forehead protector of Konoha like bandana and standard Jonin outfit. He also had senbon in his mouth.

"My Lord..." I immediately fell to one knee, placing one fist to ground and bowed my head like a Knight facing his King. I can tell Hiruzen eyes twitched, the man smirked while the girl blinked at me, "For what reason you call this humble Genin?"

"Please stand Haru-kun..."

"I'm not worthy to stand, let me kneel for more few seconds."

"... ... ... There! It was three seconds now stand up!"

I immediately did, and the annoyance face on Hokage is priceless.

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" He stated flatly and I only put fake horrified look.

"Of course not, my Lord! How could I do that to you?" I asked with mocking gasp and he glared to me "Okay, okay. All joke aside, my Lord, I take it the reason you call me here is about my replacement in team?"

Sandaime took inhale of his pipe and gave slight nod to me before he exhaled the smoke "Yes, sharp as always, Haru-kun... And, before I begin, please get known with these two who will be your team if you pass."

I narrowed my eyes at that but nodded nonetheless before turned to them, I already knew who are they, but the girl, I never thought I will see her this fast.

"I'm Haru, it is nice to meet you Shiranui-san and... Ojou-san..." I said with a slight pause since I didn't know how to address her.

The girl blinked at the tittle and flushed slightly while Genma smirked.

"Name's Genma Shiranui, boy. You know about me, eh?" Genma asked.

"Genma Shiranui, one of Elite Guard of Yondaime. You are quite famous, despite not being full Jonin. So it shouldn't be a surprise for someone who reads a lot like me." I answered with a smile "And may I have your name, Ojou-san?" I asked Yakumo.

"Yakumo Kurama..." Yakumo replied, she seemed noticeable nervous. If I recall this girl's ability is sealed and she lived in isolation, right? What was her problem again? Something called Idi or Odo?

"Well it is nice to meet you then, Kurama-san." I said with nod and she nodded back.

"Seeing you all now know each other, I think I can go to direct topic..." Hiruzen stated and got our attention back "Haru-kun, normal squad of Genin usually consists of three Genin and one Jonin or Senior Shinobi sometimes. However, your case is slightly different, seeing you hide your skill pretty much and if I allow you to join into one of teams it will disrupt the balance of the academy..."

Ah I see, so it was like that, I understand what he means. Hiruzen seemed to notice my understanding face and continued.

"So instead normal squad, I will reactive the team that was never used since the end of the Shinobi War..." He smiled while puffed out his pipe "That team called Backup Team..."

* * *

**There we have it, Haru team finally decide**

**Quite short, yeah I know but I thought this was good part to end this chapter, not to mention we will have fight scene next chapter and maybe will be quite long due to introduction with Yakumo**

**Many of you want Haru to be placed in team 7 with Naruto or Sasuke or team 8 with Hinata and Shino but I must say that was impossible**

**Hiruzen knew Haru is strong, and while he don't know how strong Haru is but he knew Haru actually could be considered as Chunin already**

**If he enter one team it will disrupt the balance and I try my best to make team replacement as logical as possible**

**Decision of Sakura or Hinata in team 7 still not decided, and you all can give opinion which one of them should enter team 7 or team 8**

**Whichever you pick, I have logical explanation so you not need to think much and afraid it will affect the plot I plan, it was free choice**

**And I glad there someone who compared Haru to Keima Katsuragi. Yes you right about that, I based Haru character from Aizen from Bleach who manipulative and Keima Katsuragi from World God Only Know who able to shift his personality to conquest the girl**

**Like Keima who treat real girl like a game he play, Haru also like that. Haru come from different dimension where Naruto and everyone is 2D after all, so he treat them like one and make his personality could make the people he want to get/use comfortable with him**

**Yakumo Kurama, I think her problem actually not that big. With Kurenai she able to overcome Ido, and this is Hiruzen Sarutobi we talking about. Did you think Ido will able to act much? Even in his old age if Hiruzen still could beat Densetsu Sannin if they fight him one on one I guess**

**That man practically awesome! To be called Kami no Shinobi is not small feat ya know! Only Hashirama that have that tittle after Hagoromo and we all know damn well how strong Hashirama is! He made Pain looks like cute puppy duh!**

**The next chapter will be test for Haru and Yakumo and explanation about Backup Team**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	9. Test for Backup Team!

**This chapter have been edited by ****Frouad****e! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 8. Test for Backup Team!**

* * *

"So... Let's start the introduction properly, my name is Genma Shiranui. I like pumpkin broth and hate spinach. My hobby is traveling. My goal for the future... Hmm, for now, I think I want to see how you two will be in the future if you'll pass my test. Don't worry, you will know about me more in future if we will be working together..." Genma said with a smirk.

Yakumo, Genma and I sat on the top of Hokage Tower. After brief explanation about Backup Team, we were allowed to go.

Let me tell you about Backup Team.

The Backup Team is a special team that always accompanies team just in case if they will need urgent help. During Great Shinobi War there were many teams that died due to ambush and or the mission proved to be far more dangerous than they originally thought.

Having so many people died during the war made Konoha learn and they formed special team, the team they called Backup Team.

While it is true that a normal squad could be called as Backup Team too, people in a real Backup Team are different.

Their number is small, usually only two or three people, but they had their own special skill. The Backup Team normally is a team that covers what squad didn't have, for example if the squad lacks Medic Nin the Backup Team which was sent with them will have Medic Nin for them. Or, if the team needs some special tools for their mission, the Backup Team will be sent to bring the required tools.

The reason of the small number is that Backup Team must move quickly, they can't have anything to delay them due to their role as a backup.

The team was disbanded after Shinobi war because this team was practically not needed thanks to us entering the peace state, and the lack of candidates too. Backup team does not always act together, for example, Genma could be in the middle of mission when Backup Team is needed thus the rest of the team will be gone without the leader.

Backup Team members mostly are more advanced than their normal Shinobi class, if it Chunin it will be quite advanced Chunin entering the Backup Team, which in this case is Genin and the person is me. But why is Yakumo with me?

Simply put, that old man wants me to create new bonds.

He knew that if I would be separated from my friends it could become one of the reasons I would go rogue later, so he gave me a new friend, a clan heiress, in fact.

He also knew that I am a person who is interested in special or unusual people, Yakumo Kurama who possesses special Genjutsu is clearly fits the category. Hiruzen is aware that I am silently interested with clan heirs, who are different from other students, but he also knows the person must have interesting life or history.

He is informed that all people close to me: Naruto, Sasuke, Shino and Hinata actually had quite some hard moments in their childhood. And, while I am close to Rookie 9, I am not that close, not to the extent like with the last four.

Naruto with his status as Jinchuuriki, Sasuke with the Uchiha Massacre, Hinata with her father harsh nature and Shino, who seems to be too mature for his own age and is also quite lone boy.

That man is good... As expected from the Professor and Third Kami no Shinobi. If he will get to know I came from a different World he will realize that I was silently manipulating them, thankfully, he does not know.

And among all other children who possess harsh treatment, Yakumo Kurama is one of them. I had no doubt Hiruzen knew I will make bond with Yakumo and probably will teach the girl too. And added Yakumo status as not experienced one due to her isolation, he clearly wants me to teach her just like what I did to Naruto and everyone.

"My name is Yakumo Kurama. I like to train to become better at my skills. What I dislike is someone who gives false hope. My hobby is painting and gardening and my dream..." Yakumo paused as she seemed to have a hard time to speak and I was not surprised, if I recall she wished to become ninja and now she already became one, so she must settle for new dream "I guess... I want to become great Genjutsu user and prove someone that he/she is wrong!" She said in slightly cold manner.

Genma gave a nod, but I could tell he raised one of his eyebrows, I had no doubts, he knew who the person is, even I knew, thanks to watching the anime. He and Yakumo turned to me and were waiting for me to start, I gave them a polite smile.

"My name is Haru, I like to spend time with my friends and train until I can't go on again. I dislike morons who love to exaggerate something. Hobby? Cooking and finding interesting things, I guess. As for my goal..." Image of Rinnegan flashed in my mind at the moment when I thought of my goal "Well... I think you all will find it out later. I don't have any goal in particular other than serving my village now." I finished while adjusting my forehead protector.

"Alright, now we all have proper introduction. Let's talk about the test..." Genma said and Yakumo blinked.

"Test?"

"You heard what Hokage-sama said before, right? When Haru entered the office." Genma answered her question with question.

**_"Yes, sharp as always, Haru-kun... And before I begin, please get known with these two who will be your team if you pass."_**

"B-But I thought it only for Haru-san here!" Yakumo voice became high as if she was shocked by the news.

"It does not work like that, Ojou-san." Genma smirked "Backup team is something important, you can't just be accepted into the team after passing academy test. There is the reason it was quite special, ya know." He stated with chuckle "If you'll pass the test, you'll become team. If you won't, you will go back to the academy and wait for another exam to get your new Jonin teacher..."

Yakumo gulped and she seemed to clench her fist quite hard, I only put impassive face and stared at Genma.

"Alright, here is the test." Genma clapped his hands to add the effect "As Backup Team, you are needed to come to aid the team that requests backup as soon as possible. And let me get the scenario..." He then take breath while staring at us "Now this is the scenario, you two will deliver something to certain place with limited time and the item must remain intact and safe. The first one to finish will pass and the last one will go back to the academy, simple as that."

Yakumo eyes widened while I still remained impassive and I could tell she took glance at me for a moment before looking back at Genma, who was only smirking at us.

"Is there any question?" He asked us and we only shook our head, it was quite clear after all, "Well then, gather around Training Ground 44 tomorrow at 08:00AM!"

At that my eyes widened in surprise. Training Ground 44?! That was the Forest of the Death, one of forbidden training grounds! Only Chunin or higher Shinobi could train in there! What the heck this guy or Hiruzen thinks?! Placing just recently graduated academy students there?!

Okay, I admit it won't be problem for me and in fact I will like it thanks to challenge! But Yakumo is something else! And I knew this test is clearly about teamwork, but there is another training ground that could work for us! Something like that is-

Oh, you manipulative old monkey! Not bad, Hiruzen! Not bad! As expected from Hokage and the Professor, you are smart and really sly. No wonder, Danzo fears you and even he always uses dirty way he still can't surpass you.

"Well! See you tomorrow, remember sharp 08:00AM, and bring backpack with you so you can carry the object I will give you!" Genma said before he was gone in **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**.

Silence appeared as soon as he left. Yakumo and I did not speak to each other neither we were taking glance to each other.

"I will take my leave then, Haru-san..." Yakumo started and broke the silence as she stood and brushed away the dust on her kimono and pants "May the best Ninja candidate win." She said before she jumped away at one of the fences at the roof and left.

I only sighed while rubbing my temple.

That damn only monkey... He wishes to see my full power... He knew Yakumo won't be able to finish this test alone, but he is sure I can. He is sure I already can protect the object for this test by myself, but he wants to see if I am capable of doing it while also protecting and working with Yakumo at the same time.

"That old man..." I muttered before smirk appeared on my face "But it's okay... I always accept challenge... This could show me how strong I really am..." I said with a glee in my voice.

* * *

Later in Uchiha Estate.

"Backup Team?" Naruto asked aloud and I nodded.

"Yep..." I said "What about you two?" I asked him and Sasuke.

"Me, and Dobe are in the same team apparently..." Sasuke said with a nod "But the third member is... Sakura Haruno..." His grimace was very obvious and Naruto snorted while I blinked.

Ah yes, thanks to Hinata and everyone, Naruto's crush on Sakura came to an end, seriously, watching Naruto get pummelled from movie is amusing, but in reality it is annoying. I don't like how Sakura treats him and keeps looking down at him while in reality she is more useless than him.

But still... To think nothing changed... Well, I guess, it is very logical indeed. If Sandaime placed Hinata, that would put Shino in awkward situation.

Shino and Kiba relationship clearly works like Naruto and him, but Naruto is more patient seeing he already spent a long time with him. Kiba, meanwhile, is another thing and he is also quite cocky and wants to show off, if we add Sakura, with temper there, it will be chaos.

However, if we add Hinata, who can work as peacemaker, I think it will be a very good for the team. Not to mention, it will make them a solid tracking team.

But what makes me surprised is the disdain in Sasuke's voice. The level is quite high, it appears he dislikes Sakura so much. What happened? If I recall in episode 3 the only thing happened is...

Ah...

So Sakura made snide comment about Naruto being orphan and annoying, eh? Wow, I never thought she will do that, as far as I know, Naruto never bothered her anymore.

But still... Sasuke is quite protective towards his friends and he already accepted Naruto as one even if he won't voice it aloud. And Sakura just made comment about that... Well, I hope she won't do that again.

"And your teacher is..?" I asked.

"Kakashi Hatake..." Naruto said with a scowl "Dunno about him, but that guy is practically asshole! I mean, he comes three hours later and what is his reason?! A black cat crossed his path so he had to take another route!" He yelled with annoyance clear in his voice and Sasuke also scowled, indicating he is also annoyed by Kakashi's antic.

"Well... That's certainly interesting..." I said while rubbing my chin and put thoughtful face.

""Yours is more interesting..."" Naruto and Sasuke said in unison and in a flat tone "How about you tell us about yours?" Naruto demanded.

"Dobe is right. This is the first time I heard about Backup Team, why don't you tell us about it?" Sasuke asked and I chuckled.

Then I began to tell them about Backup Team according to what Hiruzen explained.

"So... It is like some supporting team, eh?" Naruto asked after hearing while rubbing his chin.

"Yep, the team that acts like reinforcement in case something happen. As you can see, there are times, as example, when client is hiding something from you all and the difficulty of the mission increased, if that happens Backup Team will be ordered to aid you all, either to ensure you to go back from the mission or to continue it."

"Continue it?" Sasuke asked and scowled slightly "How could it be? I mean if the mission's difficulty is too high, then Hokage is clearly going to pull us and abort the mission."

"That is what normally happens... However, there is a chance you may already be too deep. And if that happens, you won't be allowed to cancel the mission and have to succeed it in order to save yourself or prevent a war." I stated seriously, there were such missions after all. I recall I had read it in history.

"Ueeh, war?" Naruto gulped and I nodded.

"Yep... That's how serious becoming ninja is and trust me. You don't want to see it..." I muttered "Anyway, you all will have a test tomorrow, right?"

"Ah, right!" Naruto nodded his head "We will have a test, something about becoming real Genin." He said.

"It will be at 5:00AM tomorrow..." Sasuke continued "He suggests we shouldn't have breakfast so we won't puke."

"Have breakfast..." I stated immediately "He only said, right? It is not a requirement, so you all must have one."

"But he said-"

"Naruto, breakfast is very important. You will need energy in the morning and if you are hungry you won't be able to perform the test with your full ability." I lectured and Naruto put understanding look.

"Hmph, typical Dobe." Sasuke snickered.

"You are the one to talk. You also planned to skip a breakfast, aren't you?" I deadpanned to him and the pink hue that adorns his face from embarrassment is exactly what I need to know. Naruto only snickered back at him "Well, I will make extra food tonight, so you can heat it tomorrow."

Both boys nodded while muttering "thank you". I only smiled at them, well, they will be fine. There is no guarantee they will fail, Naruto and Sasuke must know the meaning of Bell Test since they are close. And while Sasuke is going to dismiss Sakura, I am sure Naruto won't. That boy is kind and good person like in the anime.

Well, now I better be worried about my own test. Yakumo is very talented in Genjutsu because at that time the demon inside her agreed to work with her. What will happen to the demon now is unknown and I am sure the resulting Yakumo's power will be slightly decreased.

I stared at outside through the window and noted it is not even afternoon. Well, I still have time to gather what I need for tomorrow.

"You still did not tell us about who is your teammate." Sasuke pointed.

"Ah, some girl named Yakumo Kurama..."

Naruto and Sasuke blinked at that, as if they were just hearing some news.

"Only one? You team up with the girl alone save for your instructor?" Sasuke asked and I nodded.

"Yep." I said and they turned to each other with a strange look. What's going on? What about me being alone with a girl is so strange?

After a moment they nodded, and Naruto spoke in solemn tone as if he just received grave news.

"Hinata shouldn't know about this." He said and I sweatdropped.

So it is about that...

* * *

Next day, 09:00AM at Training Ground 44.

"Are you two ones that Genma tests?"

Standing in front of me and Yakumo are two ninja whom I immediately recognize. If I recall their names are Izumo and Kotetsu. And behind them is the Forest of the Death and let me tell you, this forest size is abnormal!

I had gone through a jungle and wilderness in my previous life, Amazon or Kalimantan forests even, but trees there are nothing compared to this! The tree was very huuuge!

"Yes." I answered and Yakumo on my side nodded.

"Well then good luck kids. It's been a while since we saw Backup Team." Izumo said with a smirk.

"Yeah, there is reason why it's disbanded, you know. And the test was here of all things." Kotetsu added and the last part he said with a whispery tone "Anyway, look at here…" He pulled out some paper and expanded it to reveal to us it was a map.

I noticed it was a map of Forest of Death. Izumo pulled out a stick and pointed it to the tower in the middle of the map.

"You two's goal is to reach this tower and deliver the object we give to you. Genma is already waiting for you in there and the one who delivers the object first is the one who will pass the test." Izumo explained to us "The time limit is four hours, if you keep walking from here to the tower it will only take one hour normally, however..." Here he smirked before he turned to the table not far from him and took two... Orbs made of glass? "These two are the items,..." He handed them to us and I noticed they were very light... That means...

At my face Izumo's smirk widened as if he just found something amusing.

"Yes, it's very light which means this thing is fragile... One normal strike even from ninja academy student will break it." Izumo stated "If you won't be careful it will break when you are on your way and let me tell you..." He leaned slightly forward to make intimidating effect, Yakumo appeared to be disturbed, but I was not "This forest filled with creatures that even can kill Chunin ninja, this place is not a playground especially for someone, who just graduated from the academy, like you two... If you are not careful..." He paused and there was slight killing intent from him "You might die..."

Yakumo seemed to pale slightly and she gulped, I notice there was sweat coming from her head. I only narrowed my eyebrow at his statement, I wasn't even intimidated, in fact, inwardly I was eager to start this test.

"Well!" Izumo leaned back and clapped his hands in cheerful manner "Now, if you are ready, let's start the test! You two can put that in your backpack. Afterward, follow me and Kotetsu here! We will start your test separately" He said with a big grin.

"Eh?" Yakumo blinked "We will not do it together?"

"You will do it together of course! But you will start it from different place." Kotetsu stated with a nod as he folded the map he held "Remember, the first one to arrive will pass the test and you can use any means necessary to pass." He said with a slight smirk.

I held the urge to punch his nose as I felt Yakumo gave me a look. You just had to make my work harder, aren't you? Damn you! I never met you before, why the hell did you do this?! I swear I will get you back, Kotetsu! In Chunin Exam!

Kotetsu seemed to notice my look and he only laughed at me, much to my annoyance, oh yeah, you can laugh for now.

"Alright, let's begin the test! Follow me."

* * *

Moment later.

Yakumo gritted her teeth in annoyance as she jumped and dodged attack from spiders. The spiders were big, bigger than her, they were about her own size and there were a lot of them!

The Chunin and instructor before were clearly not lying about this forest being dangerous.

It had been just fifteen minutes after she started walking and she is already barraged by giant leeches which fell from the sky! She was barely able to dodge them! Heck, even few of them managed to land on her hand and it was luck she brought salt and used it to separate leeches from her.

However, the wounds were already opened, the leech was able to inject something that makes her wounds stay open! Her blood loss was big and her condition due to her isolation is not helping!

And not long after escaping from the leeches she found herself surrounded by group of giant centipedes! And, mind you, there were so many of them! They were large!

Seriously, what's wrong with animals here?! All of them are bigger than normal! She means, what kind of centipede sizes about 4M?! And what kind of leeches is bigger than someone's hands?! And there are spiders too!

But even it was hard she can't fail! She can't fail in here!

She finally became a Ninja! She finally did! Becoming Ninja is her dream and her goal is to become great one. As the last survivor of Kurama Main Branch members she had responsibility and job to do!

It was her own fault that her parent is dead...

So it was her job to atone it... To bring Kurama clan back to its glory... She had to! And she can't do that if she will not become Shinobi!

She wasn't that bad, despite her isolation and quite weak body, but still she was better than average Genin. Thanks to that woman training her in young age, she also knows high level Genjutsu.

Her Ninjutsu though is only average, however she can perform three basic academy ninjutsu quite well. Her taijutsu... Well, she is bad at that and her shurikenjutsu is standard.

She broke out from her mind as she saw one spider launched a web to her through its mouth and she jumped again to dodge it. As she soared in sky she failed to notice one spider crawling above the tree and it let out screech as it jumped down.

Yakumo turned upwards and saw what was coming, but it was too late to react as the spider slammed her and... passed through.

The group of spiders who were seeing this seemed to be confused as they found their prey in sky slowly dissipated like a mist.

Not far from them, Yakumo panted while hiding behind a tree. Unlike what people think, Genjutsu does work on animals. It doesn't matter whether you have Chakra inside you or not, Genjutsu works by injecting your chakra to the victim's body and controlling the spiritual energy inside the victim.

Of course, to trap large group like the spiders takes quite a lot of chakra but for Yakumo, who was very good in Genjutsu and accustomed with it, she is able to balance the chakra usage like a Jonin.

'The glass!' She immediately went to her backpack and tried to find the orb and to her relief, it still was fine. She let out sigh of relieve at that before she carefully placed it back 'I don't know how close I am to the tower now, but... It already an hour! Only three hours left!' She gritted her teeth in annoyance as she realized she was wasting time now!

She immediately jumped and resumed her journey to the tower. While on her way she couldn't help but to fear that her fellow ninja candidate may already be there or be closer than she was now!

She was wasting too much time when threated her wounds from that leech. Seriously, those things are very dangerous. She doesn't know maybe some Goddess of Luck at that time protected her from them.

As she was jumping from one branch to another her vision suddenly got blurry and her eyes widened.

'!? M-My head, c-could it be I lost too much blood? Those things only latched to me for a minute!' Yakumo thought with panic as she tried her best to focus her eyes.

Sadly, her fate clearly was not that good.

By reason of headache and blurry vision, she lost focus on her footing and she tripped over some branch. She immediately let out scream as she fell from the tree.

'The orb!' She thought with a panic.

BRUK!

It was lucky that she was able to twist her body to land on her stomach rather than bag. If she did, the orb would be destroyed by now without any doubts.

But to her bad luck too, falling from eight meters and landing on your stomach is obviously not good for your body save for if you are trained ninja and able to endure pain. And since Yakumo is not that type of ninja thanks to her isolation it was bad.

"Ughh..." She grunted as she tried to stand up 'I-I think my ribs fractured a bit and bone on my foreleg cracked.' She thought with pain sensation on her chest and leg.

Damn it! Her situation is bad! With this wound and conditions there is chance she won't reach the tower in two hours! She can't afford to reach the place just in time since it better if she will arrive as soon as possible!

"I hope things won't get worse..." She grumbled as she tried to stand.

Oh, she just had to say that, hadn't she?

And to response to her words, suddenly, from the bush large tiger appeared. I mean really large, larger than Yakumo herself. The girl cursed inwardly at her situation as she fell into stance.

'Only one, I could trap it in genjutsu...' She thought as she tried to perform handseals. However, suddenly her vision got blurry again and she felt very exhausted and it was preventing her from casting the technique.

The tiger seemed to notice Yakumo's attemp to attack it and before she could, it decided to attack first. It let out growl and lunged at her, much to Yakumo horror, she was feeling helpless while staring at the incoming tiger.

'Okaa-san, Otou-san, I... I'm sorry...' She thought as she closed her eyes and accepted her fate to the tiger that lunged at her.

BANG!

A loud voice echoed as she heard something hit the flesh, she immediately opened her eyes and sew the boy, Haru appeared and kicked the tiger on its right cheek.

'W-What?'

Haru wasting no time pulled multiple shurikens from his pouch and threw them to the tiger which crashed at the tree. Tiger which just stood again after the impact just in time to see multiple projectiles launched to it and the shurikens hit it in the head, killing it in a second as its giant cat body fell to the ground, lifeless.

Haru seeing the enemy's death turned to Yakumo who were staring at him with wide opened eyes and gave her a smile "Are you okay?"

"E-Eh?" Yakumo blurted out, snapping from her daze and shock.

Haru decided to approach her openly and Yakumo was about to move, but she was feeling too weak and before she was able to do anything she found herself grabbed by Haru and...

"The wound on your back... It is still bleeding... You are losing too much blood." Haru muttered as he observed the wound on her back in rhomboid part.

Why do you care?

That's what Yakumo wanted to ask but she found out she couldn't speak somehow.

"At this rate, in only two hours you will be dead... The wounds are still bleeding after all... Wait a moment..."

Suddenly, Yakumo felt something touching her back and she hissed before felt slightly better, she could feel the flowing warm liquid that wet her back now stopped.

She was barely able to glance and see Haru's hands glowing green and he healed her wound with medical ninjutsu much to her surprise.

"I already closed the wound, but you still lost too much blood..." Haru informed before he rammed through his pouch and pulled out brown red small pill "Here, eat this..."

"What is it?" Yakumo hissed, her tone clearly shown she does not like her situation and there was distrust in her tone.

Haru was not feeling offended and only offered her a smile "This is Zōketsugan (Blood Increasing Pill), this pill will speed up the formation and increase blood in the body. It tastes bitter, but at least you won't die." He answered.

"How do I know you are not lying?" She asked with a glare.

"If I wanted you to die, I wouldn't bother to looking for you or save you from that tiger." Haru replied with a sigh and as patient as he could, he knew this girl appeared to have a trust issue considering what happened with Kurenai.

In the meantime, Yakumo showed sincere surprised look at Haru's answer. He was looking for her? "Why?" She asked with a confused face.

Haru opened his mouth to answer, however, before Haru could, his senses alerted him and he turned around, Yakumo followed his gaze and found out there was a group of tigers appeared from the bushes and they all were surrounding them.

"Another nuisance..." Haru said in nonchalant tone, but there was a slight annoyance in his voice, Yakumo noted it was like a man who was tired of dealing with them.

"There are 12 of them..." Yakumo muttered and she couldn't help but to worry, unlike dealing with spiders or insects, predator like a tiger is something else.

"Just eat your pill Kurama-san and leave this to me..." Haru reassured as he prepared himself.

"Eh? But there are so many of them and they are tigers! It's not like dealing with insects!" Yakumo said with disbelief.

"Maa, I got this." Haru smiled before facing the group of tigers "Come, you ignoramus cat, that if you understand what I said." He smirked at them.

The tigers let out growl before lunged at him and Yakumo. The girl behind Haru prepared herself, despite being told to relax, but her stance was slightly dizzy.

As the tigers lunged at him, Haru only remained calm and when they were near, he performed one-handed seal and the movement of the tigers suddenly stopped.

"W-What?" Yakumo muttered in shock and disbelief as she was watching at the unmoving group of big cats.

No... They were moving... Yakumo could see that their bodies twitched and shivered, as if they were trying to move, but they couldn't. Something was holding them.

"**Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique)**..." Haru said with a smirk "A temporary technique that will paralyse the victims, of course, paralysing fellow Shinobi or summoned animal could be hard, but overgrown normal animal is something else." He chuckled "Now eat that pill, we have to leave before they will be able to move again."

This time Yakumo didn't bother to question him. She took the pill and ate it, as soon as she did that, she found herself feeling better like what Haru said, her headache got better now.

"The effect won't be instant, come on. Let's go..." Haru said and swooped up Yakumo in bridal style before she could do or speak anything. He jumped and left the group of paralyzed tigers behind.

Yakumo face turned to shade of red as she felt Haru's arm was holding her firmly. She didn't know whether she should be feeling grateful, but now she was more embarrassed than the last time.

"Let me go!" She squeaked out of embarrassment as she started struggling.

Haru did not bother to resist it, he immediately complied and gently put Yakumo down when he was sure their current position is comfortable enough to stand.

"Why are you helping me?!" She asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

Haru only blinked openly "You didn't know?" He asked.

"Don't know what?" She scowled.

"This test's purpose is for teamwork..." Haru answer made Yakumo's eyes open wide "It's practically impossible to survive in here alone, you had to notice it. The instructor was not lying about Chunin got killed in here, just look at the environment. There is a reason why this place is forbidden after all." He said while gesturing at their surrounding "If you throw someone who was just graduated from the academy here they will be dead in an hour." He deadpanned.

Yakumo, who were hearing that blinked. Now she thought about it clearly, how could she miss such obvious thing?! What he said is truth, this place will kill Genin!

"Forest of Death or Training Ground 44 is place where Chunin exam is mostly held. This place is training ground only for Chunin or higher Shinobi, so training here is forbidden but to reach the tower is something else... Genins can reach it as long as they work together well..." He explained.

What Haru said was clearly logical and true judging from her opinion. There were no cracks or holes in his reasoning, yet she still couldn't help but to voice her doubts aloud.

"How could I trust you? All I know you could be lying and trying to destroy my orb!" Yakumo said with distrust and scepticism.

Haru only blinked again before putting deadpan look "If I had a wish to do that I could let the tiger attack you in the first place..." He repeated what he said before and Yakumo slightly blushed in embarrassment. He sighed while rubbing his temple "I don't know what is your problem Kurama-san, but you seem to have trust issue. I won't ask why, but if you do not believe me, then I will allow you to enter the tower first before me just to satisfy you." He stated with a calm look.

Yakumo scowled again at that answer, but she nodded, she still won't trust him and keep an eye on him. She is even going to prepare genjutsu and trap him if he will try to betray her.

"Good!" Haru said with a smile "Now..." He then took his backpack before he rammed it and pulled out his orb "Would you like to hold mine inside yours?" He asked and Yakumo blinked "I mean, isn't it better if it will be one person who holds the objects and the other tries to protect by observing the delivery woman/man?"

Well, technically, what he said is true but...

"You'll give your orb to me just like that?" She asked with bewilderment in her voice "How can you trust me like that?"

"You are my teammate, why shouldn't I trust you?" Haru asked back with a scowl "Here..." He pushed the orb and slowly Yakumo took it.

"O-Okay then..." She murmured and thought that this man is strange. He is too... Trusting... She began to put Haru orb inside her backpack before turning to him again, she sew the boy smiled at her and she couldn't help but to blush "S-So, what's now?" She asked in a slightly timid tone, inwardly cursing the way she spoke.

"Now, let's get to the tower together." Haru smiled to her "Can you stand and walk around you?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Good, but don't push yourself okay?" He said with a grin and Yakumo only grunted while turning away. Haru only chuckled in amusement before his eyes widened, he immediately dashed and stood in front of Yakumo while performing one-handed seal.

"What are you-"

**"Katon : Endan (Fire Release : Flame Bullet)"**

Haru spewed out a blazing flame bullet and burned three spiders that were crawling on the wall and were about to ambush Yakumo from behind.

Yakumo seeing this had eyes open wide before she began to look around and noticed there was a group of spiders around them.

"Above!" She shouted as she saw spiders jump down at them like a rain. She pulled out multiple projectiles and threw them at the spiders.

The shurikens pierced the spiders, but there still were many more that rained down at them. Yakumo pulled out shurikens again and was about to throw them, however, Haru beat her.

**"Katon : Hōsenka no Jutsu ( Fire Release : Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)"**

Dozens of fireballs with diameter around 40CM launched from Haru's mouth and they struck the remaining ones that were not struck by Yakumo.

The girl appeared to be surprised at Haru skills in ninjutsu as her eyes widened 'He's good!' She thought in awe.

"Let's leave! We can't stay in one place for a long time!" Haru yelled and Yakumo nodded 'This glass... I don't know what, but there is something about it that attracts animals to us, I'm sure of it! Damn that old man, he certainly doesn't make it easy!' He thought as he allowed Yakumo to jump first before he followed her and spew out another fire ninjutsu to delay the group of spiders that were on their trail.

* * *

Two hours thirty minutes later

"Well... I must say I'm surprised, never thought you two will come like this." Genma remarked with amused smirk as he saw Yakumo and Haru condition.

There were dirt and bruises covered them, mostly on Haru. Yakumo, meanwhile, seemed to have lighter wounds.

Genma wasn't surprised by that, but what surprised him is he saw that Yakumo was carried by Haru's piggyback style. The girl pale skin now turned to shade of red, there was a bad bruise on her left leg and it seemed she wanted to hide herself due to embarrassment she had.

It was when they were on their way, they were attacked by group of bears and this time the bears were clearly stronger than the tigers. Haru managed to beat them all, however one of them managed to hit Yakumo.

The girl practically threw herself so she was wounded further and thanks to that their glass orb did not break, yet she clearly broken her leg.

"Do you have the object?" He asked.

Haru glanced to Yakumo on his back and the girl lifted up her bag and gave it to Genma who took it.

Genma opened the bag and found that two glass objects are still intact and remain unharmed, without even a single scratch.

"Well... Since you appeared together and seeing your condition, I think I won't explain what the true purpose of this exam was, right?" He asked.

"Teamwork..." Yakumo answered and Haru, who was carrying her nodded.

"You got that right, Ojou-san..." Genma smirked with a nod and Yakumo's eyes twitched at the nickname "There is no way new graduated Genin could pass this forest alone, this is a place for Chunin or higher, after all. Only Genin that could be considered as a candidate to be Chunin at least could survive in here." He then stared at them with a slight stern look "So how they can pass? Simple, your mission is to deliver the information or object. You ignore everything around you and deliver it, with one Genin watching over the second one who carries the objective. You can survive in this forest if your objective is just to reach the tower without hindering with each other..." He paused to make sure both of us understand what he said "Backup Team never consist of one person, unless that person is Kage level Shinobi or the situation urgency is higher than code red." He finished.

Haru only smiled with a nod while Yakumo appeared to be sad for a moment since she never thought like that, but it was gone as she gave a nod of understanding too.

"Well, I guess now congratulations in order." Genma chuckled "We all are now officially Backup Team and you two are Ninja from now on!" He stated with a smirk.

Haru gave a grin at that and Yakumo also beamed as she smiled at him, the girl was practically too happy. After years, she was finally allowed to continue her studies and she finally became Ninja!

She unconsciously tightened her hug on Haru and her face scrunched to full smile of happiness. Haru seemed to be slightly choked, but when he noticed Yakumo's smile, he only rolled his eyes and accepted it. Well, this girl deserves a moment of happiness after being isolated for such long time.

"Alright! I know, you are all happy, but Ojou-san's wound should be treated. You can act lovey dovey to your new boyfriend later." Genma remarked with a grin of amusement.

Yakumo blush reawakened and she let out sputter of denial while Haru only gave flat look at him that was clearly stating he is not amused by the joke.

"I will carry Kurama-san to medics then..." Haru said and Genma nodded before he left.

On his way to the medic, he heard a whisper from Yakumo.

"What, Kurama-san?" He asked.

"We are teammates now..." Yakumo muttered, there was a slight blush on her face "You may call me Yakumo..." She said timidly.

Haru blinked before he burst into laugh "Okay then, Yakumo-san!" He replied as he left.

Genma who was watching them only shook his head, it seemed working with them will be amusing. He was actually surprised when Hokage came to ask for his help, he wanted to reject it at first but decided to humour it. Why not? He is also interested to become teacher after all.

And now seeing those two, maybe, it will be interesting. Especially when he will see their expression, when they will meet D-rank mission later.

"You watched it, Hokage-sama?" He asked as he turned and saw there Hiruzen standing in the corner of the hall room, hiding behind the wall.

"I've had watched it since the beginning..." Hiruzen said with a chuckle as he went down through stairs "And like I said that boy is not a Genin... You must saw, he took down group of bears by himself, there were 10 of them and he beat them alone without any difficulty... He also performed **Kanashibari no Jutsu** at 12 tigers at same time, that requires good Chakra Control. That level surpasses even Chunin..." He stated as he had seen the boy through his crystal ball.

"12 tigers at the same time? That is something…" Genma replied with a slight surprise, he had heard about the boy from Hokage directly that he should be better than Genin. But hearing that is still surprising.

"And the boy still appears to hide his ability..." Hiruzen remarked and Genma stared at the direction boy left with a smirk.

"Hoo... Then teaching him will be interesting..." Genma remarked with amused smirk and slight glee in his tone.

* * *

**There you go! Now Haru become official ninja! How the test? As you can see Backup Team is different team, of course the team will be different**

**I hope you all satisfied with the test. Forest of Death after all place for very skilled Genin, Yakumo of course have hard time but Haru is not**

**Remember, Yakumo spend her time in isolation. Her chakra control maybe good because she skilled in Genjutsu but her taijutsu and endurance not very strong, not to mention she almost have no experience in battle**

**Right now Haru skill still mysterious but he clearly far stronger than when he 8. We get the glimpse of it now, his full power will be revealed soon or later**

**And team replacement, I hope you all satisfied with Sakura on Naruto and Sasuke team. The reason was very reasonable and logical, Hiruzen will place Sakura since he knew that the younger generation have to make bond**

**As for Sakura, I'm not bashing her. It just reality that she is useless until part two. In part one, even in Wave Arc she didn't do anything and when Chunin Exam about to enter she had nerve to comment Naruto is worse than her**

**I mere stating fact and its not bashing but its reality that Sakura not have more role in part 1**

**Next Chapter will be training with Haru and how he perform D-rank mission. There will be small confrontation too between Haru and certain masked Ninja XD**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**

* * *

Omake : Sasuke &amp; Sakura conversation

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he just got out from toilet, when he arrived back at a classroom he found the blond was not there.

"I don't know, he said something about buying ramen." Sakura answered and Sasuke inwardly snorted, typical Naruto, he is always like that.

Sakura seeing gleam of happiness at Sasuke's eyes couldn't help but scowled. Just what so special about the blond clown anyway?! She can tolerate Haru presence since he is very polite and also helps if someone asks him.

Hinata herself, the fangirl tolerate it because that girl has crush on Haru and she acts like an older sister to Sasuke and Sasuke sometimes acts like a brother to her too, that's the reason they never bother her.

Shino? Okay, that boy is creepy, no one dares to disturb him without fear to got bugs after their ass.

But Naruto?

The blond is not like Haru and Hinata for sure. He's loud, annoying, not smart, obnoxious and loud! Always does whatever he wants and acts so free! Even the adults hate him so much!

So why is Sasuke friends with him? Why can Sasuke smile and laugh when he talks with him but can't when he is with her?!

"I don't understand, Sasuke-kun..." Sakura muttered and Sasuke turned to her with narrowed eyes "Just what makes you be friends with Naruto-baka anyway?!" She asked "He's loud, idiot, always annoys people and always acts like he wants! Even the adults don't like him much!" She stated with a quite scowl.

Sasuke, who was hearing that only put grim look, anger briefly flashed in his mind when he remembered how people were staring at his friend. To Sasuke, Haru and Naruto were already like brothers. They were there when he was in his most vulnerable moment and they healed his wound, allowed him to make bonds again and reminded him how family should be.

He won't voice it aloud, but he actually likes Hinata, admires Naruto, who is so strong and able to withstand against the glares from this village. That boy is so strong that he is able to hold himself to not lash out to them, if it was Sasuke he already would burn them with Katon.

Oblivious to Sasuke mind, Sakura continued to speak.

"He's so annoying and loud. Do you know why? It's because he doesn't have a mother nor father. No one raised or taught him the right way, while I admit Haru-san is good and can calm him down sometimes, but Haru-san is still a boy and Naruto also often doesn't listen him. He just does whatever he wants!" Sakura let out sigh while shooking her head "If I did something like Naruto, my parents would scold me immediately and I would get in problem so, of course, I won't do it. But if you are like Naruto, then how would you know?" She lamented with another sigh "He's so selfish, bratty and- Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura see Sasuke already walk to the door, planning to go out too so she stop talking

"Sasuke-kun? Where you going? Our teacher could-"

"All alone..." Sasuke spoke in low voice, but Sakura still heard it "Alone by himself, you don't have even slightest idea how it feels." He said coldly while still not looking at her and Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"W-Why are you saying that?" She asked in shock.

Sasuke turned to her from his shoulder and for a moment Sakura swear his eyes were red instead of usual black.

"You, who lives in your fantasy and cuddling by your parents, what do you know about us? About us, who live alone without parents." He commented coldly and Sakura paled as she realized that Sasuke also became orphan.

"I... I... S-Sasuke-kun I don-"

"You, who is ignorant to people hardships and only lives in happy fantasies. Don't you dare to speak like that about someone who is alone..." He cut her coldly "People like you... Make me sick..." He spat with disdain and venom clear in his voice and Sakura's eyes widened, tears gathered in the corners of her eyes "You are annoying... Don't talk to me anymore." He stated before he turned and slammed the door close, leaving to find Naruto.

Sakura who heard what Sasuke said couldn't help but to feel hurt. But she mostly felt is shame and regret. How could she just speak like that before? How could she not be aware about the real Naruto's situation? How could she not be able to see that since the beginning?

What Sasuke said is right... She had no idea how Naruto feels and what the blond went through... And she just spoke like she knows him...

She feels like Ami who bullied her when she was a kid... And, oh God, how awful it is... She couldn't believe she stepped so low like that.

As tears were falling from her eyes, she couldn't help but to think about how she always looked down on the blond and even insulted him openly. She never tried to help him or tried to understand him. How could she? She still remembers when the boy had a crush on her, she used him to help her or cheer her up, yet she just brushed it like it was a wind.

'I... I should apologize to him... If I have a chance... I have to... We are going to be teammates after all...' Sakura thought as she wiped out the tears on her face, she promised that she will become nicer person to the blond and try to understand him more.

**'Cha! You bet we will! We won't be like that spoiled and arrogant Ami again!'** Her inner self yelled with enthusiasm and Sakura agreed as she gave a nod outwardly.

For Sakura Haruno, this will become the best step she will ever take for her ninja carrier in the future.


	10. I Did Not Sign to be Shinobi for THIS!

**This chapter have been edited by ****Frouad****e! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 9. I Did Not Sign to be Shinobi for THIS!**

* * *

It has been hours ever since the test finished. Yakumo and I already were outside Forest of the Death and now I was in the hospital since Yakumo apparently were badly wounded.

She had her leg broken, in my previous life to heal broken bone it would take a month or more perhaps, depending on how severe it is. But here it only takes one week or couple of days.

Thanks to what people called Chakra in this World such thing is possible. The chakra system and it circulatory wrapped around all part of Human body and with medical ninjutsu, the people in here can fasten the healing process by creating new cells with their chakra applied to the patient body.

It is a bit complicated to explain, however, one thing is for sure - the chakra is clearly awesome!

I was able to copy medical ninjutsu when I visited hospital and silently activated my Sharingan to copy the ninjutsu and to understand how it works.

And I must say, medical ninjutsu takes more chakra than normal one. This is because it needs strong amount of control and like people often say, "creating something is harder than destroying something".

I now understand why medic nin are rare and their number is small. It is because it is damn hard to learn! I only could heal outward wound such as piercing wound, bruise, or similar to that.

But if it reached the level of breaking bone or the victim's internal organ was damaged, well, all I can do is to halt it. I can't heal the wound completely and only can close it so the bleeding is at least reduced to the point the organ won't be overloaded by the blood that is flowing, but that's it.

Oh well, it is not like I will try to become medic nin, I learn it just in case and it is also good training for chakra control!

So right now, me and Yakumo, who was in patient room, where Yakumo was treated, were staring at Genma who was standing while staring back at us, his senbon was hanging on his lip as always.

"I am sure you know that's the Hokage observed your test, right?" He asked and I nodded while Yakumo blinked in surprise "Ojou-san didn't know? Oh well, then it's fine. Hokage-sama had observed your test and I had seen it too..." He paused so we could process what he just said, "And I must say, you two are quite advanced for standard Genin. Though I shouldn't be surprised, Ojou-san here is a Heiress of Kurama clan, after all. That clan is famous for their Genjutsu, something that requires high chakra control..."

Yakumo seemed to beam at the praise as I could see there gleam of proud in her eyes. I was only listening while trying to keep calm face.

"However, Ojou-san, your taijutsu is absolutely awful. If I were to give a score, I would say it only reaches high Ninja Academy level. Not even reaching Genin, your Shurikenjutsu and Ninjutsu are also only standard." Genma continued, crushing Yakumo proud feeling as I saw the girl blanched "I will be blunt, if you meet someone, who could dispel Genjutsu you are probably going to lose. True, your Genjutsu is good, but a few Genin are able to release themselves from Genjutsu of your level. You have a long way to go to become a great ninja to prove to _her_ that you could become great Kunoichi." Genma finished his appraisal and when he mentioned her, I could tell that Yakumo eyes flashed in anger.

Genma turned from Yakumo to me and smirked.

"Meanwhile, you are something else, you are only Genin in title." He said bluntly making Yakumo turn to me with eyes wide open. "Chakra control is at level of Chunin or higher, perfectly mastered elemental ninjutsu, able to take down 12 adult giant bears with pure taijutsu, aim of shuriken and kunai that are capable of striking blind spot by using environment, can perform medical ninjutsu, already knew you are observed by Hokage-sama ever since the test began and also aware about the true meaning of the test, and finally never shown any fear or panic during the test when facing all the animals." He said as he listed all my abilities that I showed when I was tested.

I could tell Yakumo stared at me with awe from my side, sure, she had seen me in action when I protected her, but she missed the most, due her focus on our orbs protection from the wild animals which were attacking us.

"With all those skills, I will say- no. Everyone will agree that you are already Chunin material, boy. Don't know why you are still holding yourself in Genin though, but it's your own reason, this team is made because of you, after all." Genma stated while rubbing his ear with his pinky finger.

"What do you mean by that?" Yakumo asked immediately.

"I mean, Ojou-san, if it was not for Haru here, then Hokage-sama still wouldn't unlock your power." Genma answered bluntly and I noticed Yakumo eyes widened again. "Hokage-sama needs someone, who could stand on Haru's side and fight together with him, but all the senior Genin already have their own team and we can't just team up person, who just graduated from academy with someone at his level. You are clan heiress and already received training at young age and your Genjutsu skill is also high enough to rival or even surpass Chunin, that's why you are chosen."

Yakumo appeared to be upset, despite she also received praise as I could see her clenched the blanket very tight. I can't blame her since the way Genma said it is Yakumo is only counted as extra person and unwanted member.

"So, Hokage-sama did not unseal my ability because he wished to help me, huh? I'm just a pawn to complete the board? Is that what you said?" Yakumo asked with anger.

"It is not that negative, Yakumo-san." I said as she turned to me "You heard what Genma-sensei said before, right? Hokage-sama needs someone, who can stand on my side and able to match my skills. I won't try to deny that I'm very good, however it will be useless if I was alone. And to complete that Hokage-sama picked up Genin that is comparable with me, in this case, you. Which means Hokage-sama needs you to become Shinobi, no..." I paused as I tried to play my words right "It's more like I need you to become Shinobi..." I stated with a smile.

And the result was like I expected, Yakumo blinked once before her pale face adorned by a shade of red. I could tell that she was embarrassed and also happy at the same time.

Genma, meanwhile, gave me amused look and smirked, the look was the one that spoke 'Way to go, Casanova.' I only replied it with a dull look that stated 'I did this only to repair your damage'.

"What Casanova here said is right." He smirked and I threw him a glare due to nickname "If you heard my words, I also praised you at the same time. Your chakra control is high, Ojou-san, to the point it rivals Chunin or higher. You lack taijutsu and the other, but your chakra control and genjutsu are something, and with chakra control as good as yours it is just a matter of time before we could fix your ninjutsu problem and then we'll focus to your taijutsu and shurikenjutsu." He explained when he placed his hand inside his pocket and I also nodded to Yakumo, who seemed happy already.

"So never think you are only extra piece, Yakumo-san. This team may be formed because of me, but our status is equal. There is no superior or inferior, save for Genma-sensei here. I will help you train and maybe you can help me in genjutsu. Sounds fair, right?" I asked her with a grin.

Yakumo stared at me for moment before she turned away and I caught her slightly red face, but I decided not to comment on that.

"F-Fine... I-I think we could work on that..." She stammered out and I only smiled.

"Well! Okay, enough about this dramatic scene!" Genma said with amusement in his tone "Since Ojou-san here got her leg broken, we will start mission when she will be healed. You all can do anything you want during that time and, Ojou-san, you inform us if you feel you can do mission already and remember to not force yourself."

"Yes, Sensei..." Yakumo replied and Genma nodded.

"I will take my leave then, see you all later." He said as he performed a seal "And one more thing, Casanova, play it slow, okay? Even if you became a ninja and recorded as full adult, however it will be a problem if you'll have a baby this young." He smirked and my eyes widened while Yakumo turned to red shade.

"You-"

Before I could finish my words, Genma was already gone in poof of white smoke, indicating he just used **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**. I let out growl of annoyance at that, damn that man! I will pay him back later! Mark my words! If there is one thing I inherit from my Uchiha gene is that I'm avenger! And I will pay whoever dares to mock me back!

"I-If you want to make relationship with me, I won't deny it."

My eyes widened once again before I snapped my neck to Yakumo as fast as if it was just broken with shocked expression.

"What?"

"I... I'm not good into thing like this because I was isolated and my power sealed, I also never talked with someone of my age. However, as the last survivor of Main branch of Kurama clan, I will have an obligation to take a husband and it must be strong one..." She said with blush on her face "A-And this far you showed nothing but kindness and compassion to me, you also helped me a lot. And also you are not bad looking and we are going to be teammates, s-so i-if you wish to form intima-"

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Stop right there Yakuma-san!" I immediately cut her, seriously, to say I'm shocked is understandable. While it is true I could accept chakra theory and everything but this behaviour is very surprising! I knew the old era will be hard and girl or man marriage at young age is not something unusual, but now someone just bluntly offers herself to me like this... "I admit, you are beautiful woman, not to mention the fact you are heiress of the clan, but I'm just normal orphan. It would be a honour to marry someone like you, however I have to decline because we are still 12 for Rikudō Sennin sake!" I almost yelled at the last part as I was waving my hands in frantic manner.

Meanwhile, Yakumo had her blush increased and appeared to have decency to look embarrassed.

"Age doesn't matter, we are Shinobi. The moment we wear this forehead protector we become adults." She said in her best firm tone though I could tell she was very embarrassed.

By Rikudō Sennin, Jashin, Pain and Kaguya. I never thought Yakumo will be this bold! Isn't she supposed to be quite timid and also a person who does not talk much in anime?! How the hell she just suggests something like this?!

Then it hit me like a brick, Yakumo wants to become Shinobi ever since her young age. She is very devoted to the point when Konoha denied it she almost destroyed it by trapping the whole village in genjutsu!

And unlike Sasuke, she doesn't have any goal other than becoming great shinobi and restoring Kurama clan back to its glory. And also unlike Sasuke, her target is inside Konoha and after our small conversation her confidence must have boosted slightly! Her bloodline also makes her genjutsu into Tsukuyomi! True, it not strong like real Tsukuyomi, but the Genjutsu is still able to harm person in real World!

And with such dangerous skill it's just a matter of time before she could surpass Kurenai! And afterwards her goal is only one, she has to restore Kurama clan back to its glory!

To do that she just needs to grow strong and find someone who is strong enough to become her husband. And, giving my position, someone who is also at her age, but possesses Chunin skill already, while most of current generation just graduated from academy, I will be the best choice and first candidate.

I closed my jaw that was still open until now before taking a deep breath. I lifted my head up to stare at the room ceiling above me and I swear what I saw just now was a face of the certain old man there.

And that old man was laughing! I just knew it!

"This is not funny, my Lord..." I said in a flat tone, ignoring Yakumo's strange look and I swear it only made Hiruzen, who was in his office, laugh harder. I let out sigh before turning back to Yakumo. "Yakumo-san I... Flattered you chose me, but... Let us not be hasty, okay? We also won't be able to consummate marriage until we are, at least, reaching our real adult age. For now let's be friends and we will see, maybe there will be someone who is better for you rather than me." I told her with troubled look while inwardly nodded.

That's right! I can avoid this! All I need is to hook her with someone else! I could settle this without a problem, maybe hook her with Sasuke? But again, his daughter with Sakura, Sarada Uchiha is quite adorable! It will be sad to erase her existence! Ah, hell! Like I care anyway!

"That was... Reasonable, I guess..." Yakumo said with a slight pause and nod "Very well, we will get known to each other not only as teammates before going to marriage."

"I told you maybe there will be someone better than me!"

"Maybe is something that is unsure, if there is something that is sure why I should wait for the unsure one?"

I only let out groan before palming my face in annoyance... Of all things... This event had to happen? Really? Really?

THIS IS BULLSHIT! I DID NOT SIGN TO BE SHINOBI FOR THIS!

* * *

Four days later.

"This sucks..." Naruto grumbled as he kicked the ground, throwing dirt around it.

"For once I agree with you, Dobe. This sucks." Sasuke agreed as he let out sigh.

We found our Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto gathered in a small restaurant. The three of them sit at table while having dumplings and tea for their food and drinks.

"C-Come on e-everyone, i-it couldn't be that bad, right?" Hinata asked as she tried to comfort them.

Sadly, it was useless.

""Yes, it is..."" Naruto and Sasuke answered in unison. Hinata couldn't help but sweatdropped at the response, these two always went to each other nerve, but at the same time they also like twins.

"I mean, come on! We are ninja! We are Shinobi! We train to throw shuriken and create elemental attacks! So why the hell we are painting a wall?!" Naruto practically yelled in annoyance while waving his hands. Seriously, what they trained for and what they went through this far is actually the opposite.

"Hn. Naruto right, we are Shinobi. We train to escort someone, stealing information, tricking people, fight fellow Shinobi and else." Sasuke grunted with twitched eyes "But we never have been trained to weeding garden!"

Hinata also let out sigh at that, apparently their pessimism seemed to affect her. She also inwardly couldn't help but to agree with them, what is for D-rank mission anyway? Teamwork? Their teamwork is already good enough and while it's true few ninja did it for extra money, however for Sasuke and her it is useless.

Naruto and Haru also live using Uchiha clan financial, though they rarely use it, but if situation demand it they won't hesitate.

Speaking about Haru, she realized that she never seen Haru in last four days. She was really busy training with her team and also the missions, but now Naruto and Sasuke are here, so where is he?

"W-Where is Haru-kun?" She asked the blond and raven haired boys.

"Dunno, he said he will be visiting hospital. In the last three days he always goes there..." Naruto said with a shrug as he ate the dumpling.

"Hospital? Is Haru-kun sick?" Hinata asked in worried tone.

"No... It is his teammate." Sasuke answered while shaking his head "Apparently, his teammate was injured during their test. Got broken bone in the leg..."

"R-Really? That's horrible..." Hinata murmured "Speaking about the test, how about yours?"

"It's about teamwork." Sasuke answered again since Naruto was busy munching his food "We were facing against our Sensei and had to steal two bells..."

"Yeah! The test was hard! Kakashi-sensei tried to make us fight each other!" Naruto whined after gulped his food "We had to steal two bells and the one who fails will be sent back to academy!"

"At first we didn't know what to do, so we tried to fight him one-on-one. Of course, we lost..." Sasuke sighed openly, he actually didn't want to admit it, but Kakashi is strong. Of course, he was not using Sharingan in the first fight, Haru always say to hide your ability and surprise your enemy.

Of course, Kakashi beat his ass. While the Jonin admits he was surprised by Sasuke's skills2, albeit they were not enough to steal the bells and the same thing also occurred to Naruto.

It was after that, he realized it was practically impossible to steal the bells alone and apparently so did Naruto.

"Yeah, and then we realized we have to work together! Me and Teme already had formed plan, but he seems to hate Sakura-chan so much." Naruto stated with a slight scowl as he stared at Sasuke. True, he no longer had crush on Sakura, but he still considers her as a friend and fellow Konoha ninja.

Hinata also scowled as she appeared to be disappointed of him and her face changed to expression like a parent, who was disappointed by their child "Sasuke-kun, I knew Sakura-chan can be quite... Irritating, thanks to her antic to you, but this is in mission and-"

"I won't have a problem if she only acts as usual! I know damn well how to be professional, Hinata!" Sasuke snapped at her with annoyed tone. Hinata in response merely narrowed her eyes, the act that as if said 'Then explain'. "It just... *sigh* she just decided being a bitch by bad mouthing about people like Naruto, Haru and I..." He sighed openly while rubbing his temple.

At that Hinata and Naruto eyes widened before their eyes gain understanding look what he meant. It was clear that Naruto, Haru and Sasuke are alone and have no parents. They only have each other and act as family, each of them also act protective toward each other.

Naruto won't admit it aloud but he was really happy Sasuke came to defend him like this and Hinata also understands, she may have a father, but a father who is always stating you are failure and leave you under someone else protection is not the best father figure.

"I hate people like her." Sasuke said with distaste in his voice "Acting like they are better than us, like they know us, like they understand what we went through, but in fact they not! They judge us only by how we act but never bother to find the reason behind it." Sasuke eyes transformed into red ones with two tomoe as he glared at the cup he held and it slightly cracked "I hate and loath people like that!" He coldly declared.

'Sasuke/Sasuke-kun...' Naruto and Hinata sadly thought seeing their friend words.

There was a brief silence from them as no one continued to speak due to sudden change in atmosphere. Eventually, it was broken by Naruto who sighed.

"Seriously, Teme, I never thought you love me that much. To defend me like that..." Naruto joked with a snort before his eyes widened and he gasped "Don't tell me you swung that way!" He yelled while pointing his finger to Sasuke.

Sasuke eyes widened and he snarled, blushing from embarrassment and anger "Dobe! I'm straight, you bastard! And don't get me wrong! I defend myself, not you!"

"Ha! You lie! I knew you love me! I'm just that awesome!"

"Say that again, Dobe! I dare you!"

Hinata only sighed as the two began their daily banter, but there was a soft smile plastered on her face as she looked at Naruto. The blond just tried to lighten Sasuke mood and she knew it, he really was a good guy and that is the reason why she admires him as a big brother role sometimes.

Then she noticed the clerk and the worker in the restaurant gave a look in their direction and she put apologetic look while muttering one before turned back to the duo.

"Okay! We are in public, you two can continue your banter later, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun..." She said as she tried to calm them down.

Both boys began to look around and noticed everyone gives them a look. Then they turned to each other and gave a glare that said 'This is not over!' and began to calm down while eating or drinking their own food again.

Hinata only giggled a little at their antic, while it is annoying, but sometime it can be fun too.

"Anyway, so how is the test?" She asked again.

"Well, after few minutes of persuading, Teme agreed to work with Sakura and we formed a plan. Afterwards, we kicked Kakashi-sensei ass and took the bells, then we passed!" Naruto explained with a proud grin.

"Simply put, Sakura provided long range support by shuriken and kunai since she only knows three basic academy ninjutsu. Naruto and I engaged Kakashi in close range where one of Naruto clones henge itself into kunai and snatched the bells away then threw them to Sakura." Sasuke explained as he knew Naruto story did not give any details "Really, that girl is one of the top kunoichi in our class? She only knows three basic jutsu and didn't even start with her chakra, it barely reaches Genin." He muttered with distaste.

"That is not surprising. Why? Because Haruno-san highest skills are in academic aspect and she also comes from civilian family which turned to Ninja and she was not trained at young age like Haru, it resulted that her chakra reserve is quite small…"

The trio almost squeaked -Hinata and Naruto did not bother to hide it and let out loudly- at the new voice that suddenly entered their conversation. They snap their necks and saw Shino standing not far from their position.

"S-Shino-kun!"

"Shino! Don't scare us like that!"

"Hn! What Dobe said!"

The trio responded at Shino's presence in clearly surprise tone and quite annoyed in Naruto and Sasuke case. The Aburame Heir only adjusted his glasses, originally he would be annoyed at his friends who did not notice his presence, but thanks to association with Haru he seemed to gain slight amusement at this condition, that boy clearly rubbed on him.

"I never meant to scare you all. Why? Because you all are my friends and even if I intended to scare you all I would use my bugs to crawl around your legs or sneak inside your food and drinks. This way it will be more effective an3d the result will be more amusing to watch."

Immediately, Naruto and Sasuke edged slightly away from him, while Hinata only visibly blanched and there was a slight green on her face.

"Haru is clearly rubbing on you... That guy is closet sadist..." Sasuke mumbled with annoyance and twitched eyebrow.

"Since when are you here?" Naruto asked.

"Since Hinata stopped your banter. When I was going pass this road I heard your two voice fighting and decide to visit, why? Because ever since we have our own teams, we do not spend time as much as usual and while it is true we have our own teammates, but as friends we have to spend time together." Shino answered and Naruto groaned at Shino usual way to speak while Sasuke only rolled his eyes "Speaking about Haru, I don't see him. Where's he?" He asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"He is visiting his teammate, who was injured during their Genin test, in a hospital." Sasuke answered and Shino nodded, accepting the answer.

"If I recall, only Haru was not in the class during the announcement, his name also was not mentioned by Iruka-sensei. Surely, you two know the reason, right? Why? Because you two live under the same roof with him. So, can you tell us?"

"Well, apparently Jiji is aware that Haru holds back a lot. So he decided to separate him from us and give him a special team..." Naruto paused before his face scrunched to thoughtful one and then to sheepish "What is it called again, Teme?" He asked with sheepish grin.

"It's called Backup Team, Dobe..." Sasuke said while rolling his eyes "You can't even remember the simple thing. Makes me wonder how you did pass academy exam in first place..."

"Teme! Why you-"

"Backup Team..." Hinata muttered aloud and her voice cut Naruto retort, it was clear she did it purposely since she wanted to avoid another banter between the two rivals "I never heard about it..."

"So do I... But it is not surprising seeing Haru is separated from us. Why? Because Haru's skills are not Genin level Shinobi, he should be Chunin already and if he entered our team, which just graduated from academy it would disrupt balance of the team replacement." Shino responded.

"Well, the team is something about extra support or reinforcement team. He said the team was not active after the last war due to lack of candidates and we now are in peace state." Naruto said with a shrug.

Shino and Hinata were not asking anymore, if what Naruto said is true, then it is better if they ask their own parents by themselves later. They certainly can explain it better.

"And who is his teammate?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke and Naruto took a glance to each other when the question was asked, silently they made an agreement between them during the eye contract.

'If Hinata will find out there will be fight!' They thought at the same time. The crush on Haru from Hinata is very obvious among them -save for Naruto, but the blond was told by Sasuke and Shino already- it was not a secret that Hinata is very fond of Haru and while she is kind, but they would not dare to risk to make Hinata jealous or angry.

Why? Because usually the kind and patient people are always scary when they are mad, and while they knew Hinata will be patient, however they don't want risk it. Not when she could neuter you with single touch of her fingers.

Thankfully. Kami or spirit of Rikudō Sennin decided to help them as new person appeared and entered the restaurant.

"Ara? Naruto? Sasuke?"

Naruto and Sasuke turned and saw the person was actually their sensei, there were two people along with him.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto called with a blink and Hinata and Shino turned to the masked man only for them to blink as well.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata called as well with surprised face seeing her teacher here.

"Hinata and Shino? You two are here too?" Kurenai asked back with a blink "What are you doing?"

"We just decided to gather together, we actually are close friends since academy. And since our teams are different, we decided to meet and talk..." Naruto answered "And how about you, Kakashi-sensei? Don't tell me you are actually going on date with this pretty lady! How could she wanted to date with someone who has old grey hair like you?!"

Kakashi only gave a flat look that clearly said he is not amused and Kurenai on his side let out giggle of amusement.

"I must say that you know that my hair is silver not grey." Kakashi defended himself "And I'm not old, I'm not even in late thirties!"

"Oh lighten up, Kakashi, Naruto-san is only joking." Kurenai chuckled "Well, we planned to talk about you four when we came here..." She said as she sat on table near them and Kakashi followed her.

"Eh?" Hinata blinked, clearly surprised at her reply.

"You four are close to each other and we are aware of that. We wanted to talk about it and maybe we could find out more about you four, then we can put a better way to train you." Kurenai explained as Kakashi simply read his Icha Icha book.

"I see... That's logical reason. Why? Because if you know more about us, then the more accurate training you could give us." Shino agreed with a nod as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"But if I recall there is one more, right? Haru's the name. I'm not seeing him in academy or hearing about him from other Jonin, did he fail?" Kakashi asked, but his eye never left his book.

"Well, about that..."

"Naruto, Shino, Hinata and Sasuke? You all are here?"

Everyone now turned to another new voice and saw it was Haru in his ninja outfit. He was staring at them with a blink, clearly surprised to see them here.

"H-Haru-kun!" Hinata greeted back, her tone became slightly higher while blush immediately adorned her face when she saw her crush.

"Haru?" Sasuke blinked back "What are you doing here? You said you were going to visit your friend in hospital."

"My friend got out from hospital today and we are going to start mission. I decide to buy dumplings here to eat later after mission, the dumplings here are good, you know." Haru grinned slightly and it is true, Yakumo got out from hospital today. He spent last few days to visit and train her, while training chakra control together. Yakumo is good at that, but that doesn't mean she can't improve, chakra control training could be leaf exercise too. He just stuck numerous leaves to her body and made her glue it, he also does the same thing sometimes.

Haru then noticed that there were Kakashi and Kurenai, he turned to them and smiled in polite manner "Ah, you must be Hatake-san and Yuuhi-san. Shino, Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke teacher."

"Oh, you know us?" Kakashi asked as he stared at Haru up, down with slightly interested look.

"Of course, Naruto have spoken about you during this last four days and about Yuuhi-san, I know about her due to Hinata status." Haru replied with slight distaste when spoke about Hinata's status -since she got left to Kurenai care by her father's order- before he turned to the chef and ordered his food, then he turned back to them "Where's my manner. My name is Haru, nice to meet you two..." He said as he slightly bowed.

"Nice to meet you too Haru-san, I'm Kurenai Yuuhi." Kurenai smiled, this boy was quite polite.

"You already know my name..." Kakashi replied simply with a shrug "Hmm... By your forehead protector I see you still ninja, but I didn't see you in placement team few days ago." Kakashi remarked.

"Well, I got placed in Backup Team by Hokage apparently." Haru said in slightly sheepish tone.

Both veteran Jonin showed surprise look as their eyes widened for a moment after hearing Haru reply.

"Backup Team..." Kurenai muttered "Never heard about them ever since the war over..."

"Indeed... And Hokage-sama didn't tell us about this..." Kakashi mused aloud while rubbing his chin "You must be very skilled, probably better than Sasuke and Naruto here." His eyes smiled to the boy who only chuckled.

"I'm not that good." Haru said as he was trying to be modest.

"You kicked Sasuke, Hinata-chan and my ass when we fought you three on one. If you are not good, then I'm Dobe..." Naruto deadpanned as he gave flat stare at him.

Both Jonin showed surprised look again after hearing that and Haru appeared to be annoyed as his eyes slightly twitched.

"What are you saying, Dobe? You are already one." Sasuke snickered and Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Teme! You are the one to talk! Your pretty red eyes were useless against Haru's speed!"

"Like your clones were useful too... And at least I was able to fight him toe on toe unlike you who got your ass kicked multiple times, counting with the clones."

"Actually, it was Hinata who was better since she apparently was able to hit me really good with Juuken, you two suck." Haru interjected with amused smirk making the boys glare at him while Hinata blushed at the praise "Though maybe I would lose if Shino were also there, his kikachu going to drain me to zero." He added as he glanced to Shino and the Aburame boy nodded, indicating he is glad Haru did not forget about him.

"But I don't think we would be still going to win with ease, Haru. Why? Because you must have a plan to deal with us already and your skills are also above us all." Shino remarked while adjusting his sunglasses.

Both Jonin, who were watching the interaction between Haru and the four Genin couldn't help but to be surprised again. For Kurenai, Hinata seemed to become so timid to the point she was going to pass out any moment and Shino also seemed more respectful and his mood is lightened due to Haru presence.

For Kakashi, he knew Haru close to Naruto as he was the one guarding them when they were little, though it stopped since he had his mission. However, what made him surprised is both boys who have high ego openly admit Haru better than them that easily.

'This boy is really close to them, eh?' Kakashi mused silently as he observed Haru.

"Here the pork dumplings you ordered."

"Ah, thank you, sir..." Haru replied as he took bag of dumplings and handed the money.

"Are you going to eat that much?" Kurenai asked in surprise seeing the amount of food.

"Wha? Of course no, I will share it with my teammates and teacher too." Haru said with smile. "Well, now I already have my order I will leave then. I have a mission to do..."

"Good luck with D-rank mission..." Naruto grumbled under his breath with sarcasm and Haru only rolled his eyes.

"Really, Naruto? You should know D-rank missions have their own usefulness, you know." He sighed and the blond boy scowled.

"How the hell painting a wall and catching pets will be useful for our carrier?! What does it teach us anyway?!"

"It teaches you to be patient." Haru stated in slightly stern tone, gaining everyone attention "D-rank mission may sound and look like it sucks. But what you all must know is during that mission, the team bond is formed and through that bond you'll be able to work together quite well. You and Sasuke may be able to work together well, seeing you two had known each other for long but what about Sakura?" He asked and he noticed both boys grimaced "See? And patience, it teaches you to hold your temper. Naruto, you must know not all our clients will be as kind and good like what you think, you will meet a few clients who are going to act annoying and being rude to us. Heck, few of them are even going to view you as nothing but tools and some of them are going to act indecent toward you. And if you can't hold your temper and lash out at them, it will be dangerous and can make bad reputation to Konoha."

As the Genins put understanding face at Haru explanation, Kakashi and Kurenai couldn't help but once again marvel the new Genin. This boy just graduated and yet he already acts as if he is someone at their rank! Heck, this boy is probably the first Genin in all Elemental Nation that figured out the truth meaning behind D-rank mission!

In D-rank mission, you are taught to be humble and to make bond with your team so you can handle the stuck up client in future and also so they can work together well. It shows you that, despite you became Shinobi, there will be someone who you must protect and there are people who paying you so you can feed yourself.

'Is he really new graduated Genin?' Kurenai thought with awe and shock.

'Such wisdom and sharp mind... For someone at his age and in this generation nonetheless... If Sasuke or Naruto considered as gold or silver in this generation then this boy is diamond, why Hokage-sama did not graduate him early?' Kakashi thought with narrowed eyes and impressed at the boy.

"But it's still lame!" Naruto whined though his voice was not as strong as the first time.

"I know, but it's necessary for your own good. Dealing with D-rank missions also going to give you experience to face troublesome client later." Haru said and chuckled.

"Be careful, Haru, you sound like Shikamaru before..." Sasuke smirked and Haru rolled his eyes.

"Troublesome Uchiha, don't compare me to that troublesome lazy genius, who is always ranting about troublesome women and troublesome lectures." Haru replied in a joking tone and Naruto burst into laugh while Hinata giggled, Sasuke let out snort of amusement and Shino had his lips twitched to slightly upwards.

"Anyway! I will be leaving then... Sorry, can't join you guys, maybe next time." Haru said and his friends nodded. He turn to Kakashi and Kurenai before bowing to them "Please, take care of my friends Yuuhi-san, Hatake-san. Especially you, Hatake-san, Naruto and Sasuke could be quite handful."

Ignoring both boys indignant yell, Kakashi let out chuckle of amusement. This boy is clearly interesting.

"Maa, don't worry, Haru. I won't let those two get in a problem and call me Kakashi-san or sensei, Hatake-san makes me feel old." He stated with a smile and Haru blinked.

"Is that hair colour of yours original? I thought it was grey hair..." slightly surprised Haru said and this time Kakashi's eye twitched in annoyance while everyone either were giggling or snickering at that.

'I don't know how, but I know he said that on purpose...' Kakashi thought with irritation, really, his hair is silver! Why the hell people always insult it?!

"Same goes to me too, Haru-san, I will try my best to become good teacher for Shino and Hinata. You can call me Kurenai-san or sensei too." Kurenai smiled and Haru nodded and opened his mouth to reply.

"Haru? Are you done?"

However, someone interrupted him and when another new voice came everyone blinked while Kurenai froze when she heard the voice, it was certainly familiar to her.

From the restaurant door, another person appeared and this time while for everyone she was new and unfamiliar, however for Kurenai she was clearly familiar.

It was Yakumo Kurama in her ninja outfit.

"Yakumo-san, sorry I'm late I just met friends." Haru said in apologetic tone.

Yakumo opened her mouth to reply, but she froze when noticed Kurenai presence. Then her eyes flashed into cold when she saw her before she turned back to Haru.

"It's fine, if you are done let's leave now." She stated coldly while throwing cold glare to Kurenai.

'Yakumo...' Kurenai thought sadly. She, of course, was aware that her former student now became Shinobi, Hokage already informed her about it, after all. She was planning to meet her and apologize, but she never thought their reunion will be this soon, and by her tone it was clearly visible she is angry at her.

"Hey! Who are you? You can't enter and just speak rude like that!" Naruto said as he stood up and pointed his finger at Yakumo.

"Naruto, you are also being rude!" Haru lectured immediately and the blond blanched while lowering his finger "Everyone, this is my teammate, Yakumo Kurama." He said as he introduced her to his friends.

"It's nice to meet you all, but I'm afraid we have to introduce ourselves properly later. Haru and I are already late to meet our _Sensei_..." Yakumo spoke in her best polite tone and slightly bowed to them while making emphasis on the word 'Sensei' and threw slight glare at Kurenai "Let's go, Haru..." She said as she grabbed Haru's hand in intimate manner and pulled him.

"O-Oi, Y-Yakumo-san there is no need to pull me. Ah right! See you all later..."

There was moment of silence as everyone saw Haru, who was leaving with Yakumo. Eventually, it was broken by Naruto who openly scowled.

"I don't like her..." Naruto stated while crossing his arm "She seems to be like Teme but even worse!"

Sasuke eyes twitched at the remark from Naruto, but he decided to not retort. That Yakumo girl, the way when she entered and saw Kurenai... The eyes of that girl were filled with hatred and clear disdain. And if there is one thing Sasuke knows very well, it is about hatred. After all, he has such bond with his brother before Haru entered his life, he had felt how hatred can be even if it was just for a few days.

He was not the only one who was aware how Yakumo was staring at Kurenai as Shino glanced at his teacher, Kurenai obviously was quite down and there was sadness in her eyes. The way Yakumo spoke before clearly shown she was an acquaintance of his new teacher.

Hinata meanwhile was aware how Yakumo looked, however that was not what she currently had in mind.

It was not secret that Hinata is a nice and sweet girl. In Cannon, despite Naruto being always after Sakura she never shows any jealousy and never tries to act or even to reprimand Sakura for how she treats Naruto. It could be said because her timid and shy level is quite high, not to mention she is not very confident of herself and she feels she does not deserve Naruto.

However, in this universe certainly she is not. She is still timid, shy and kind, but she also has her confidence, thanks to Haru's existence and she never felt jealous because apparently before Naruto had crush on Sakura her crush on Naruto already ended and she started to grow her crush on Haru instead.

And unlike Naruto or Sasuke, Haru is not a popular person. While it is true he is quite known in academy, however none of academy girls try to woo him and Haru never closes to other woman save for her, Ino and Sakura -the last two Hinata aware Haru doesn't have feeling for them and same for both girls-

So this is the first time she saw some girl intimate to Haru and act that close to him. And she couldn't help but to feel there is slight fire that burned in her heart when she saw Yakumo grabbing Haru's arm in intimate manner and pulled him away like that.

'Yakumo Kurama... Who's that girl? And what is this feeling? Why I don't like it when she near Haru-kun like that?' She thought confusedly at the new feeling she felt "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun..." She called with a slight steel in her tone.

Both boys who heard their name called like that paled before they slowly and mechanically turned to Hinata who now had veins slowly formed in her eyes and she still was staring at direction where Haru and Yakumo left.

'Oh crap!' Both boys thought in panic.

As Haru went away while being pulled by Yakumo, he clearly did not miss the slightly strange look that Hinata gave to Yakumo and couldn't help but sweatdropped.

Even if he doubts it will happen due to Hinata kind nature, but he knew it will happen and it was unavoidable one day, it is just matter of time before catfight explodes between Yakumo and Hinata. No matter how, if it is a fight for someone they wish to have, there will be violence in the end. Especially Yakumo, who already declared her intention a few days ago.

'I'm signing to be Shinobi to become strong and killer and become God by achieving Rinnegan! I sign to be Shinobi to be ready facing monster that could destroy my previous World by themselves alone! But I did not sign to be Shinobi for THIS!' Haru thought with clear annoyance and gritted his teeth, his eyebrows also twitched "THIS IS BULLSHIT!" He yelled loudly to the sky, ignoring strange look that Yakumo and everyone around him gave to him thanks to his sudden yell.

* * *

**There's done the aftermath of the test! As you can see this chapter actually show not much**

**During few last chapters I notice the story was too dark and maybe quite humorless, so I decide to add little comedy for this story**

**As for what Yakumo did, I hope she not too OC. I certainly not know about her well and in wikia there no explanation about her personality too but she clearly really want to become Ninja to the point wish to burn down Konoha for revenge since she denied to be one**

**And when she did, I think girl like her will take her role and job too seriously. That was logical thing, see Rock Lee for example he train everyday like crazy guy since he want to prove himself to be good ninja with only taijutsu after succeed become one**

**For D-rank mission, I hope you all satisfied. I find it quite annoying that people often complaint, but if we see it from their point of view and their era, I think my explanation about D-rank mission is logical and reasonable**

**As character OC, I told you they will be slight OC. It because Haru influence to them, Hinata behavior in here is explained already after all. And no, I know Hinata not Yandere person in Cannon or something like that, in fact she's good girl who wish Naruto happiness **

**But in here thanks for Haru influence from young age she become quite OC**

**Same thing occur to Naruto and Sasuke too, Haru presence is like big brother/parental figure to them and seeing he also strong it shouldn't be surprise if they admit he stronger than them. Just like Sasuke admit Itachi better than him before the massacre**

**People want to see how Haru interact with his group so I decided to make one small moment between them and hope you satisfied**

**There small conversation between Kurenai, Kakashi and Haru. And both Jonin realize Haru actually not normal, and why Sandaime hide Haru true power and status? There reason for that and will be revealed later**

**Anyway! Next chapter will be Haru training with Yakumo and another thing before we enter the Wave Arc. And yes, there will be change in that arc too obviously**

**That's all I guess for this chapter and hope you all satisfied! Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	11. Backup Team First True Mission!

**This chapter have been edited by ****Frouad****e! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 10. Backup Team First True Mission!**

* * *

Hinata straightened her posture before she delivered palm attack at her enemy. Said person she attacked deflected her attack with his forearm and took step forward then delivered elbow attack.

Hinata twisted her body and dodged it before using her left arm and delivering swing at her enemy face. It only looked like a normal slap, but everyone who knew Hyuuga clan knew well that simple slap possesses dangerous power behind it.

Her enemy apparently knew it well as he ducked his head and dodged the swing. He pivoted his leg fast and twisted his body, his hand grabbed Hinata's shirt before he spun and threw Hinata away.

Hinata flipped in mid-air before pulling out multiple shurikens from her pouch and slipped them between her fingers and threw them at her enemy below.

Her enemy, who were in track to strike her when she landed, stopped as the shurikens prevented him going that way. It gave Hinata time to land before she dashed again.

She delivered multitude attack, targeting above, middle and below. But her enemy proved to be skilled, he blocked all her attacks without even showing any sign of difficult, his emotions were calm and calculating.

Growing slightly frustrated having all her strikes deflected, Hinata delivered roundhouse kick and her enemy took step back and dodged the kick that aimed at his face. Hinata took this chance to leap back, creating small distance.

'This is it!' She thought before she fell to certain stance and her Byakugan flared. The field around her in her vision turned to large symbol of Yin &amp; Yang where she stood in the middle of it.

'I can see it!' She thought with determination "**Jūkenhō : Hakke Sanjūni Shō! (Gentle Fist Technique : Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!)**" She muttered, her Byakugan sharpened before she dashed with faster speed than before that she had from support of chakra, the speed that even surpasses people of her age and if her father saw it no doubt he would be surprised seeing Hinata is capable of such speed.

Her opponent seemed surprised by her strike but nonetheless. He straightened his posture and embraced for the incoming attack.

"Two palms!" She shouted and delivered strikes smoothly "Four palms! She delivered another strikes, still smooth "Eight palms!" The muscles on her hands began to tighten, the sheer of heavy pressure due to speed and chakra she channelled to her hands began to take effect. However, she still pushed herself "Sixteen palms!" The pain began to become unbearable as she kept forward, she gritted her teeth and forced it down then "Thirty two-"

"Enough, Hinata..." Haru said, his voice held firmness stronger than steel as he caught Hinata wrist, preventing her from hitting him.

From all the strikes, all 32 strikes that were only blurring to the eyes of people, none of them hit their target. All of them were deflected by clenched fists and forearms, but the strikes between 20 to 32 were slower, and the closer they were to 32 they became slower until Haru decided to stop Hinata by grabbing her wrist.

Hinata breath was quite heavy and it was clear she was in pain due to her arms couldn't hold the pressure of the speed and chakra she delivered at the same time.

Mastering **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigram Sixty-Four Palms)** is a difficult thing, not all Hyuuga can perform it and mostly only Main member of family can. Even the one that masters it is probably adult.

The technique that shuts down the entire enemy chakra pathway system when it hits the opponent, making them useless and so they won't even be able to stand anymore. Not to mention the pain they get is crucial, chakra circulatory system surrounds all organs of Shinobi body after all.

Of course there was a light version, the one that Hinata performed now is one of it. **Hakke Sanjūni Shō** maybe won't shut down the chakra pathway of the victim, but it is going to cause pain to the victim when channelling their chakra and clearly he/she won't be able to fight the same way as the first time during the battle anymore.

This one is normally performed by Chunin level Hyuuga, only a few of Genin that count as Chunin candidates also can use this.

And of course if there is a light version of it, then there will be advanced version too, but that's a story and explanation for another time.

Haru stared at Hinata with sincere concern on his face. It was just three days after their meeting in that dumpling restaurant. And he was not surprised the next day he found Hinata stalking him when he spent time with Yakumo while training after they finished their mission

How? Let's just say he got stalked by ANBU during his childhood when he was with Naruto and being aware of it built some sixth sense, and he learned **Kanchi no Jutsu (Sensing Technique)** to increase his sense further.

And without any doubt Haru knew Hinata jealous, and truthfully he never planned something like this will ever happen. By any mean, he never planned to get another girl intimate to him, Hinata is already enough and inwardly he wishes her feelings gone because that will be hindrance in the future.

Of course, he is aware it will be hard, but he knew if he treats her same as he treats family or sister, Hinata will back away, Naruto is example of that.

But now having Yakumo kinda ruin that plan. -dear God, that old monkey is really an asshole, isn't he?- he knew Hinata is more confident than in Cannon and when she entered Shippuden it is clear she will be very strong, add the fact he is planning to have Tsunade teaching her, she will be S-rank Shinobi for sure.

But that confidence also bites him in ass in a way he never predicted, this woman is not shy or afraid to show that she is jealous.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" He asked softly, though he already inwardly knew what the problem is. "You have never been in such a rush before... And your progress with Hakke Sanjūni Shō actually degraded rather progressing, you were not this slow the last time..."

"I... I'm fine Haru-kun..." Hinata stuttered slightly while panting.

"You know that's a lie... I know you very well Hinata, so what's wrong?"

'Very well to the point you still oblivious to my feeling...' Hinata thought with slight annoyance. Like Naruto, Haru is really dense when comes to this and while not as bad as Naruto, but it is still quite something.

Or at least that what Haru wants Hinata to know since he can't have Hinata to confess love to him, especially at this age.

"I just... Want to spend more time with you..." Hinata murmured as she decided to get to the point.

"Hinata, we have been friends for years. Ever since we were 6, and we just did not meet for a week. Relax, it's not like I'm going to be gone..." Haru said with slight sigh as he released the grip on her wrist.

'I know! But that girl...' Hinata thought as she recalled Yakumo and Haru spending their time. The girl seems enjoying Haru presence too much when Haru teaches her. During her... Observations silently she could see Yakumo has advanced chakra control for someone at their age, even surpasses Hinata herself, but she lacks all other thing such as taijutsu, ninjutsu and all the aspects.

She had seen how Haru taught her to aim her shurikens and kunai better while using the environment and her surroundings and also slightly taught her basics of advanced fighting stance.

And while it is true she does not hate it since Haru already spent more time with her than Yakumo, however she is afraid... Afraid that this new person will steal Haru, she is not mad at Yakumo, but she can't imagine the pain of losing Haru. The boy, who always been there ever since she was a child and comes whenever she needs.

"You know we are Shinobi now..." Haru's voice is soft but there a stern in his tone like parent lecturing their children "We are legally adult, and I won't be at your side forever. Neither I will side with Sasuke and Naruto..." He muttered and Hinata stared at him with shock "You know it, right? I'm sure you, Sasuke and Naruto are aware of it. You three have known death in young age after all..."

And it was true what he said. Sasuke had his family butchered, Hinata's mother died due to birth and her uncle died too, Naruto's parents died in Kyuubi's attack -Hiruzen told him that part but not their identity-

Among all Rookie 9, it were those three, who are aware how cruel Shinobi World is. Not the one that all children fantasizing, but the rude and dangerous World Shinobi live in.

Haru is aware of that and that's why he mentally prepared himself. He is not innocent, he had to kill many people after all, drunk people and thug. Those also exist in Konoha but not large due to its status as Ninja village, of course, he killed them silently and burned the bodies with ninjutsu.

And the strange thing, neither he felt sick or fear, instead he felt nothing. It was as if he was born for this, as if he was ready for this, as if he just ate his usual breakfast in the morning.

"I know... B-But I-I just... I can't imagine without you... "

"Hinata..." Haru said softly, sincere smile plastered on his face "You are sweet girl..." He chuckled in a gentle manner and Hinata blushed.

"Ah!" Hinata let out soft moan as she felt Haru ruffling her hair in a slow and gentle manner, she stared up at him and he gave her a grin.

"As long I live, I will never leave you..." He stated with a warm tone as his grin turned to soft smile "So don't be afraid, ne?"

A blush adorned Hinata's face and she normally was going to faint, however this time somehow she was able to hold herself and plaster a soft and beautiful smile on her face.

"Hai..."

She may be still doesn't have courage to tell him how she feels and she knew the moment she said it, it will change her life and whole relationship. That's why she did not say it, not because fear of rejection, but fear of what is going to happen afterwards.

The aftermath of rejection is worse than the rejection itself after all and she knew it, their relationship won't the same anymore. That's why she didn't dare to confess her feelings.

But that doesn't mean she will give up... She will... Someday she will tell him...

"Good!" Haru stated with a big grin and his lips twitched "God! You so adorable! Damnit, Hinata!" He almost squealed as he glomped Hinata and hugged her in intimate manner.

"EEEP!"

This time, Hinata did faint.

And Haru openly laughed, oh yeah, he clearly was closet sadist since he was enjoying this. Or could this be considered as a sadist act? Meh, he didn't care, but he found Hinata behaviour very amusing.

He stopped laughing as he set Hinata down to the ground where she could rest a little and resume their spar after she wakes up, then he stared at her face with a smile, but only for a moment before it was replaced by pure stoic emotion.

'At least, I'm not making a promise... Because not everything always goes according to the plan, no matter how good manipulator you are there will always be surprises. And when someone blabbers out about my true nature... I fear we will cross on our path and you either join me or... I hope you will join me though that chance is small.' He thought with blank face and devoid of emotion while staring at the Hyuuga heiress below him.

* * *

Few weeks later.

Shinobi is a person, who is capable to mold their chakra and do the impossible things for normal people. They are able to breathe fire, able to spew out tidal wave, create lightning through their fingers, harden their body to the point could withstand missile of fighting Jet with ease, summon large wind that is capable of destroying entire forest

They have abnormal strength thanks to the chakra circulatory system that surrounds their organs and mold their inner energy, Ki and Spiritual Energy to be able to be used with more easily and it grants them strength that surpasses even Superman from DC World.

At age of six, a Ninja Academy student can jump twice their own height that clearly proves Chakra that Hagoromo gives is a super powerful tool for Human in this World.

The moment Chakra given to them, they are not Human anymore, but they are Shinobi. Because there is no Human has Chakra inside them, Hagoromo gives them that superpower.

Their strength and speed are very high to the point they can move faster than a car with only their feet, that's the reason they never build a car, they don't need one. Even Naruto can run faster than a train. So what for transport in our World for them? They are faster and stronger than a car after all.

Yet... With all that strength... With all those powers... They use it in useless manner...

"Genma-sensei!"

"Yes, Ojou-san?"

"We are Shinobi, right?"

"Of course you are, your forehead protector is proof of that."

"Then please tell me why do we painting a wall and do something like this?"

Genma did not bother to hide his snicker as he let it out while giving us amused face. I only sighed while rubbing my temple as Yakumo protested.

"Why? Didn't Haru here tell you why we are taking D-rank mission a few weeks ago?"

Yes, you are right. It has been few weeks ever since I became Ninja and I started doing these missions. And while it is true I knew what are they for, but I must say I found them annoying to do.

No offense, I can do manual labours without problem, but it is just... Boring... And Yakumo, who is heiress and last survivor of main family... Well, she has a hard time to do that since she is actually princess in her clan.

"He had Sensei, and while I understand, but that is not the reason why we doing this for weeks!" Yakumo protested with a scowl.

Genma sighed at her protest and rubbed his temple, it seems he also found it was boring after seeing our suffering in D-rank missions for a few weeks.

"This is also one of the reasons why Backup Team was deactivated. You two must know, Backup Team never do normal missions. They always go for reinforcement or support like it named. During the War such things often happen and this squad is a special squad that was formed for emergency to be support so they can't take mission that makes them out from Land of Fire. And after the war end, Backup Team became useless because most Shinobi problems were not as bad as problems in wartime, so it got shut down." Genma explained while also slightly lamenting at us, it was clear he also appeared to be quite bored now.

"Can't we just become full-fledged team then?" Yakumo asked.

"Nope, can't do... Because there is no candidate for you two... You have to wait for that until Hokage-sama finds good replacement for you..." Genma answered and Yakumo sighed again.

"Maa, don't worry, Yakumo-san. I'm sure we will have an adventure soon..." I reassured my teammate, who sighed openly "Genma-sensei, this is the 30 D-rank missions we did. Yes, I am aware that we can't leave Konoha, but how about simple patrol? A patrol with someone, who is ex-member of another Backup Team, perhaps so can we talk with them to know more about this team?"

Genma seemed to consider my request as he put thoughtful face while placing hand on his chin. Yakumo on my side also nodded, seeming to support my request and wanting to flee from this labour.

"I will think about it, now finish this mission. The faster you two finish, the faster I could ask Hokage-sama."

""Hai!"" Yakumo and I answered in unison.

* * *

Hiruzen stared at the thing in front of him with dark glare. The glare he possesses clearly will make his enemy tremble and remind why Hiruzen in his prime was called God of Shinobi and how he destroyed his enemies and led Konoha as victor in Second and Third Shinobi War.

But the thing in front of him appeared to be unfazed by his dark and dangerous glare, in fact Hiruzen pretty damn sure this thing taunted him!

How dares, this thing! Doesn't it know what he is?! He is Hiruzen Sarutobi for fuck sake!

"I will find a way to kill you, my enemy... One day... I WILL..." He muttered darkly while glaring at the thing in front of him.

His secretary, who had been watching him for few minutes -and did not speak due to fear- couldn't help, but sweatdropped seeing Hokage glaring at the pack of paperwork in front of his desk.

"Umm... Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen blinked before he turned and saw his secretary in the doorway.

"Ah? What's wrong, Nemu-san?"

Nemu could swear the Hokage is bipolar somehow, one second he is glaring at the paperwork with look that could freeze his enemies and make them dead due to fear, but now he gave her a warm smile he always uses to children.

"Mitokade-sama, Utatane-sama and Shimura-sama wish to meet you." She reported and Hiruzen blinked again.

As far as he knew, he didn't make any appointment with Konoha Council, which means his former teammates must be coming to talk about personal business.

And he had a feeling he knew what they want to talk about...

"Send them in." He said and Nemu nodded before leaving. He did not need to wait for long before the three of his former teammates enter his office, puffing his pipe slightly he asked "Homura, Koharu, Danzo... What do three of you want?"

"We heard from one of Jonin you reactivated Backup Team again." Koharu stated to the point "Why didn't you tell us about any of this?"

"Why should I?" Hiruzen asked back "I'm Hokage and while true you two…" He continued staring at Koharu and Homura "Are my advisors, but the decision comes from me..."

"Hiruzen, we knew there is a reason why you are not telling us. And one of them is connected to that Haru boy..." Homura said.

"We already checked his background, all about his relationship with the former Hyuuga Heiress, Aburame heir, the last Uchiha and Uzumaki. We do not care too much about your activation of this team, but what we want to know is why do you hide that boy from us?" Danzo asked immediately with narrowed eyes, his Root can't track the Jinchuuriki because there is always ANBU from Hiruzen side that always stays sharp observing the boy.

He has almost no knowledge about Haru other than the boy is close to Naruto. But he knew the boy is skilled, quite skilled. When Root was still operating legally he had visited the orphanage to find talented shinobi and found a few.

Haru was one of them, but he can't touch him while that boy is close to Jinchuuriki. Unlike what people think, Danzo is aware Naruto can't be trained like a puppet. Jinchuurikii can't become emotionless, it was absolute in order so they can control their Bijuu or work with them together like Jinchuuriki of Hachibi from Kumo did. They have to feel something, they may be Shinobi in cover, but their true nature is army killer, a weapon, a giant bomb.

And to get strong bomb you can't have simple one. You must get the special one, and that speciality is emotion.

So when he found Haru, he couldn't do anything. That boy is the Jinchuuriki's best friend and he knew how Hiruzen wishes the Uzumaki to be happy. He can't touch Haru, because if Haru will be gone, then Hiruzen will be going after him immediately for Naruto's sake.

"To be blunt, I hide him because I don't want you to touch him, Danzo." Hiruzen replied in a blunt manner like his teammate.

"That boy is talented, Hiruzen, I had seen his talent in past. Surely, you are also aware, what kind of child at age two already mastered leaf exercise and stuck multiple leaves on his forehead. That boy is a jewel, Hiruzen, a jewel among the orphans and if only you-"

"And if I give him to you, we will have second Orochimaru or Itachi on the way..." Hiruzen stated coldly "Don't try to defend yourself, Danzo, that boy is already dark like Orochimaru. Stucking him into darkness will only lead to the same mistake..."

"It is worthy risk to ensure-"

"No, Danzo. This time you will listen to me…" Hiruzen snapped at him with slight anger "Orochimaru is a dark person, I am aware of that, but he became darker when he associated with you. And thanks to that now we have another S-rank Shinobi out there! Your method failed once, and we will use mine now!" He declared hotly "And don't forget, Danzo, you are no longer in council thanks to your interfere with Uchiha clan, only Homura and Koharu are still Elder and my advisors here."

Danzo snapped his jaw close and put stoic face, but inwardly he was quite upset being barked like this, but he couldn't blatantly declare it.

"Homura, Koharu. Are you two also came for the same reason?" Hiruzen asked his old friends.

"Truthfully yes, but after hearing your explanation, I think, I agree with you." Koharu replied. While true she seems more military, but she knew Orochimaru is one of the biggest mistakes and creating another one is clearly a big no "Hiruzen, we wish to know how strong that boy actually is... If he mastered leaf exercise at age two already, then clearly his talent will not be stopped just like that."

Hiruzen inhaled his pipe while staring at her before slightly let the smoke out "Strong enough to surpass Itachi at his age..."

This time the three of his former teammateы clearly show surprised look, even Danzo did not bother to hide it, but Hiruzen could see expectation in his eyes.

"That talented?" Danzo asked.

Hiruzen slowly rose from his seat and stared at his village through his office window.

"That boy is prodigy that surpasses even Itachi and Orochimaru. And Uchiha clan thought of Itachi as of second Madara... I had one of Elite Jonin test him in a fight and the result surprised even me." Hiruzen stated in a strange tone.

Hiruzen still won't forget what he saw last week. Apparently, Genma decided to see the boy's full power and wished to test the boy. The Elite Jonin asked his permission to be somewhat lethal to the boy in a fight so he could go all out and Hiruzen gave permission.

The result?

The boy lost, of course... Unconscious in a hospital for a few days... Got broken bones, chakra exhaustion and such...

But Genma also got into hospital after that...

In fact, there were many times Genma could be killed in that fight. The fire ninjutsu and his Nature Transformation also seem to be perfect to the point he can fire multiple jutsu without problem.

His genjutsu… that boy is quite skilled in genjutsu. He was able to trap Genma for quite some time and deliver straight punch to Genma stomach. His genjutsu were really good, no doubt the Kurama heiress also helped him in that aspect.

And his strength...

Hiruzen still remembers when Haru punched through Doton (Earth Release) and destroyed it with his bare fists as if it was twig rather than earth.

The strength he possesses is not at Tsunade's level, not even close to second rate. But it is damn well could be compared as third rate.

And his taijutsu style that he called Bajiquan. That Taijutsu seems to be similar to Juuken, it damages internal organs rather than breaking bones or outside like Gai's **Gōken (Iron Fist)**.

He doesn't know how it works since he observed through his crystal orb, but when Haru fist connected to Genma's stomach, let's just say, the Elite Jonin puked a lot of blood and got his kidney almost destroyed.

How Haru was able to do that is a mystery, and if he wishes to know, clearly, he has to send someone to get punched by Haru like that. And no one will be stupid enough to wish to get rammed by that kind of attack.

"The result?" Homura asked with interested look.

"It was a tie..." Hiruzen stated "He was in tie against Genma Shiranui, who was placed as Elite Guard of Minato..."

His former teammates once again clearly showed surprise look at the news like he expected.

Rather than lose, it was more like tie... The fight was a tie in Hiruzen's eyes, despite it was Genma, who was standing after the battle. Tie, because Hiruzen knew the boy was still holding back.

That boy is hiding something... He just knew it...

Something happened when he was two years old... When he got amnesia... It was clear... Something big... But asking Haru is pointless, since he got amnesia that time, what could he possibly answer when he does not even remember?

"The reason why that boy lost is because he lacks battle experience. He lacks what mature Shinobi have, an experience. But his skill is already good enough to consider him as Elite Jonin..." Hiruzen said and it is true, the boy lost also because he lacks experience. He got caught off guard many times by Genma and that proved to be a fatal mistake, seeing the boy got defeated because he got surprise attack from Genma.

"So that's why you placed him in Backup Team..." Homura said in realization tone "Backup Team often gets dangerous mission, you put him there so when he will get out he will be facing strong enemies that will be able to hone his experience." He stated and Hiruzen nodded, admitting it.

'That was a good plan... But still... To think that boy is that strong... No... I should have expected it but still... For someone, who grows in this peaceful era and basking in sun, that boy is very good.' Danzo thought with impression 'Imagine, how good he will be when he'll enter the darkness...' He smirked inwardly in interest.

"Itachi and Orochimaru no doubt are strong... But due to basking in dark side of Shinobi too much we lost them... And again now, we gain another prodigy. This time, this one won't drown in dark side... We will plant and let him grow in light... We can't afford to sacrifice another gem, after all." Hiruzen stated as he turned and gave a stern look at his former teammates, especially Danzo.

"If you say so, Hiruzen... I think, I agree with your decision..." Koharu responded.

"I, too also agree." Homura added.

The three of them turned to Danzo, the bandaged man only stared at them with stoic face.

"I also agree then..." Danzo said "However, you must know, Hiruzen, basking in sun too much won't be good for someone like him... He has to experience dark side in order to not go insane..." Danzo told his teammates seriously 'I won't touch him... Not yet...'

"I know well what you mean, Danzo..." Hiruzen replied in the same serious tone "Is there anything else you three want to talk about?"

"Nothing for now... We will take our leave then..." Koharu said as she bowed in polite manner to Hiruzen, friend or not, he is still Hokage. The other elders also followed her antic before they left.

As Hiruzen stared at his friends that were gone he let out sigh. That went better than he expected, he was expecting Danzo will protest further, but it seems he backed down when Hiruzen mentioned Orochimaru.

While it actually logical that Danzo seems to have no retorts, but at the same time it also makes Hiruzen suspicious. He actually has his own suspicions of Danzo when Orochimaru went rogue, but sadly he can't find any proofs.

It was clear until now Danzo may still be in contact with Orochimaru sometimes and Hiruzen hopes he is not.

"Hokage-sama!"

The voice of Nemu broke in from the door and the tone she used alerting him and broke out him from his mind. He turned to see Nemu holding one of scrolls.

"What is it, Nemu-san?"

"There is an urgent message from Team Seven led by Kakashi Hatake! One of his summons arrived a few minutes ago!" Nemu said as she handed him the scroll.

Hiruzen furrowed eyebrows while staring at the scroll.

* * *

"Again..." I ordered sternly as I stared at the scene.

Yakumo only nodded from afar before she performed several hand seals.

**"Fūton : Daitoppa! (Wind Release : Great Breakthrough)"**

We just finished our mission a few hours ago, and since Genma told us we have free time for now we decided to train together.

There is a reason why our nation is called Hi no Kuni, you know. And while it's cliché, but what can I say? I'm not the one, who named this anime, it was Kishimoto. But then again, who knew the fictional World is actually real?

And because of this, my belief about this whole universe is... quite disrupted thanks to this after all. If I would reincarnate in normal World I would be going to become Buddha follower, but I got reincarnated here.

This makes my belief quite shaken...

I mean, come on, if you all experience what I get now what would you do and how would you respond to this? What happened to me is something that is beyond any measures after all.

And I am aware, that in one World, in one universe, my life also may be a fictional story. And who knows, how damn many people may be reading my story or even read what I am thinking now.

Ah? I'm ranting, am I not? Sorry, sorry. Back to the track, since Konoha is in Hi no Kuni, the Shinobi that live and work here mostly possess Fire affinity.

However, to be honest, despite having major fire affinity, Konoha's Shinobi also have many other elemental Shinobi. There are many lightning, earth and water elemental here, the only element that rare is wind for some reason that I don't know.

So imagine my surprise when I found out Yakumo's affinity is actually wind. Never in life I expected that, I was thinking she is water.

Nevertheless, that did not stop me from training her. While true, Nature Transformation is advanced, but teaching Genin one of elemental ninjutsu is fine.

As long as the Genin possesses the chakra control and has enough chakra, then why not?

I actually already mastered my affinity training. It was thanks to my advanced training in young age, I got strong chakra control and when I finished them all I immediately started my elemental training.

And having Hinata on your side to train your chakra control is very helpful, and I mean it. Sharingan may be able to repel ninjutsu, but if it is for training and taijutsu there is nothing better than Byakugan.

I broke out from my mind as I saw Yakumo launched another gale of wind by performing Daitoppa. Secretly, I already activated my Sharingan under my glasses and observed her, I couldn't have her dropped due to chakra exhaustion, right?

The gale of wind she performs is weak, it is not strong, only being able to crash out few trees, but that's it.

Compared to mine that is strong enough to blast away a small portion of Forest of Death, her Daitoppa is just like wind made by child.

She has the necessary chakra control to perform the Jutsu, however, she lacks the chakra that needed. True, she can summon three or four strong winds, but that's it, the wind afterwards won't be as strong as original.

"H-How is it?" Yakumo asked me while panting.

"Not bad... Your chakra reserve may be high Genin level..." I answered as I flashed her slight smile.

"Only high Genin..." Yakumo muttered.

"Hey, don't say it like that. For someone, who was isolated and untrained for four years, that was quite amazing, you know."

"That is still nothing compared to you..."

"I've been training ever since I'm two... That is different..."

I chuckled at Yakumo scowl, this girl is really like a princess that never gone out from her castle. Her pale skin, which is paler than Uchiha's, who are noble, but not as pale as Sai's level, her hand and skin are smooth and soft. I must say this sight is quite rare to see, I have never seen royalty directly in my previous life after all.

"You know..." Yakumo called, there was a slight grimace on her face "You look terrifying in that form..."

I only rolled my eyes at her. Yes, right now I'm not in normal state. I was in Henge, guess what I turned to? Joker from Batman movie.

And surrounding my body are countless leaves that are glued to my body like I'm a bee that stays in its nest. I also stood 180° to the ground by latching my foots to a branch of tree. This is one of my chakra control trainings.

Maintaining Henge, but at the same time doing leaf exercise and tree climbing, I have been doing this for years. Let me tell you something, training chakra control also increases your reserve, you know. Since there is more you can knead and mold your chakra better, the smooth, elastic and better your coil which makes it hold more and richer chakra.

Then why does not everyone trains chakra control since young age?

It is because children will be dead if they do not know their limit. No matter which World is it, children will always be naïve and if they make simple mistake they will be dead by chakra exhaustion.

Me? I'm adult in child body and I have Sharingan, I can tell when I reach my limit with my eyes. It was without doubt Sharingan is a very powerful tool, as expected from kekkei genkai of Indra Otsutsuki, the oldest son of Rikudō Sennin.

"Aw, don't be afraid, Yakumooooo." I said in sing sang tone and my smile widened, mimicking the Joker completely -which is scary, mind you- and I saw Yakumo grimaced at my call.

"P-Please, don't call my name with such voice and expression." Yakumo said with shudder "I-It's giving me bad vibe..."

I only let out chuckle, but my voice was no longer like Joker's but my original's. I jumped from the tree before flipping and landed on ground and dispelled the henge.

"Sorry, Yakumo-san, but I couldn't resist..." I teased her with good natured smirk and she only slightly huffed her cheeks.

"I told you to call me Yakumo. You do not need to use honorific with my name..." She replied while muttering about how she already had enough of that from her family.

"Well, sorry but I can't. You are princess of the clan and I am only an orphan. It will be impolite and, not to mention, if I call you with such intimate manner people will talk about it..." I said with a shrug.

"That's the point, I already declared you as my fiancé, after all." Yakumo declared with calm voice and I nodded.

"Ah I see you had-Wait! You WHAT?!"

"I..." Yakumo face got adorned by slight blush "I already declared to my family that I will pick you as my next husband..."

I couldn't help to stop my face to morph into mixture between horror, shock, deadpan, and else. This is a joke, right?! Oh, come on! What did I ever do in my previous life to deserve this?!

"A-And?" I asked with a gulp.

"Well... My uncle said he wants to see how skilled you are first before deciding. If you pass his expectation he said he will visit you..." Yakumo said to me with a nod, her blush was gone now and her face expression changed as if these were good news.

I opened my mouth to protest, to deny, to yell or to do anything so I can express how absurd that actually is before slowly and in comical manner I closed my jaw. Then I palmed my face with loud SNAP voice and sighed.

As much as how absurd that sounds, but it is also actually logical decision for girl at her age. It is not just about to ensure that I will be with her in the future, but it is also how child reacts to her crush, telling her family.

Yes, I had no doubt now, Yakumo has crush on me. And unlike Hinata, who is shy and timid, Yakumo is the opposite. Oh, don't be wrong, she still can be shy and has her cute blushing moments, but in aspect of targeting my attention that actually means nothing when she met with Sasuke and Naruto for the second time and shamelessly declared I'm her fiancé.

And while seeing those two expressions was priceless and amusing, however the headache I got that night to make sure those two will not bluntly try to act hostile to Yakumo clearly equals to the amusement I got.

"Yakumo-san... I admit, I am actually quite annoyed at this but... *sigh*. I have a feeling it won't affect or bother you..." I sighed loudly while pinching bridge of my nose.

"You know me quite well." Yakumo giggled "As expected from my fiancé..." She stated with a slight blush and I groaned.

This is not funny... Seriously, this is pure bullshit, mind you! I did not sign to become Shinobi for this!

Suddenly my sense alerted me as I heard someone approaching us fast. My tensed muscle seems did not go unnoticed by Yakumo, who immediately followed my gaze to some direction of the training ground.

This signature...

Genma appeared from the forest of training ground via Shunshin. His face was calm and quite sharp, something that is rare for us.

"Backup Team, go home and pack your stuff for a few weeks then meet me at the gate 30 in minutes from now. We have an urgent mission..." He said sternly making us blink.

"Urgent mission? Please give the summary of where we are going and who are our enemies." I replied immediately.

"We got B-rank mission to help Team Seven led by Kakashi Hatake, who protects client that was lying about his mission parameters. Our destination is the Land of Wave..."

Yakumo and my eyes widened for different reasons. She seemed to be surprised at thought of leaving village after just complaining this noon.

Me?

My eyes widened due to excitement and glee that surged to my heart.

I actually never planned this to participate in this arc, but... Oh yeah, it seems I just got myself some bonus...

* * *

**Another chapter done!**

**There nothing much in this chapter save for Haru/Hinata and Haru/Yakumo moment. There no hard romance between them and won't be for quite time, Haru still in 12 old years body after all so he won't make any interest in romance**

**Haru/Hinata moment showing that Hinata OC moment. Unlike in Canon, Hinata here is strong and confidence but at same time also quite fragile because she quite depend on Haru in her childhood. There will be few OC of another character showed later**

**Haru/Yakumo moment show that how Haru plan to train Yakumo and creating bond with the new heiress. It also serve as comedy act sometime**

**Conversation between Tobirama Senju Team, it show why Hiruzen hide Haru and why Danzo not make move to Haru. However they will have confrontation sooner or later in future and unlike Cannon, their clash will happen in unexpected moment**

**Haru fight, yes he go all out and still lose. What? You can't expect him to be superpowered immediately he maybe good but facing full experienced Shinobi will be difficult! Though he still not use Sharingan and limited his Ninjutsu since he can't just use Rasengan to him!**

**As for Haru strength, the clue not obvious but its there. He not going to become second Tsunade who possess super fist so don't afraid, Haru technique in taijutsu is not limited mind you. Remember he come from our World like us, Naruto not the only anime in our World right?**

**And there good news! I already found beta reader, her name is ILoveReadingAndWriting. Right now she working for Prologue until chapter 5 and when she done I will replace the late chapter**

**But I still going to update like normal and I won't wait for them. All chapter later will be replaced and marked when it got edited and replaced**

**Anyway, next chapter will be focus a little to Naruto and Sasuke about what happen before they send message for reinforcement then we will enter Haru part again**

**Stay tune to find out more! Please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	12. Mission to the Wave!

**This chapter have been edited by Froua******de**! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 11. Mission to the Wave!**

* * *

One day before the request for reinforcement

"Alright! We are finally going on the real mission!" Naruto yelled happily as he and his team were standing in front of Konoha's gate.

"Oi, are you sure it will be fine with this brat?" Tazuna asked Kakashi.

"Maa, maa. It will be fine, Tazuna-san, I assure you. Naruto is quite dependable, despite his appearance." Kakashi assured with eye smile.

Tazuna only let out sigh as he stared at Naruto, who promptly ignored him and talked with Sasuke. He expected to get protection from adults, even if only few. He never expected he will get children and only one adult instead.

As he stared at the blonde and raven haired brats, he couldn't help but feel slightly reassured. The first time he saw them he was disappointed. However it changed when he saw their hands.

As a worker on the bridge Tazuna knew the appearance of man, who works hard because he is also a hard worker. And he saw those hands and slight muscles on their figure.

So he did not comment much, save for the pink haired girl.

And unlike the last two, this girl's skin is smooth and clean. It shows that this girl is clearly almost like him, a civilian.

So it is just logical if he makes comment at that one...

For Sakura, meanwhile, it is something else...

The few weeks she withstood could be concluded as bad. True, she had apologized to Naruto and the blond seems fine, but Sasuke is not that forgiving apparently.

She still remembers awkward act between her and the blond, and when she smacks him as usual there is a cold glare from Sasuke.

A cold glare that clearly says 'You are weaker than him, someone like you does not have right to talk, just be gone...'

Oh yes, it seems that the Uchiha hates her so much thanks to her act to Naruto and it was later she knew that he hated her for a long time due to her attitude to Naruto in the past, when he had crush on her.

Sasuke is really protective about his friend.

And sadly until now, he still does not consider her as one. Even with help of Naruto, who tries to pair them together, Sasuke's attitude still persists.

And Sakura also must admit, she was thinking it will be Naruto, who will become deadweight in their team, but the truth is it was her.

She had seen how Naruto and Sasuke fought against Kakashi-sensei, they are strong. Naruto, in fact, rivaled Sasuke in a few aspects and they were clearly far above her.

She had requested extra training from her Sensei and he did give it. And, it was damn hard, until now she was still not accustomed with the training schedule he gave. She remembers that she even fainted at that time, she stopped diet and started eating all the food her parents give when she is done with training because if she continued her diet she would clearly going to be dead.

Kakashi, meanwhile, was watching his squad with calculating look, despite reading his book. Sasuke and Naruto, those two are incredible for Genin. Sasuke already activated his Sharingan and has two tomoe on each eye, Naruto can spam a dozen of **Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)** without showing any signs of exhaustion.

They also have good training in their chakra control. They can climb trees already, something that is for advanced Genin. And not just that, they can work together well.

Well to the point they can combine Ninjutsu together, where Sasuke uses fire and Naruto uses wind.

'However...' Kakashi gaze fell to Sakura. In his life Kakashi never expected it was Sakura, who is on the way of this team. He was expecting maybe it will be Naruto and Sasuke rivalry, but to his shock it was the pink haired girl.

It wasn't hard to notice Sasuke's dirty glares at Sakura and the way the girl cringed in his presence instead fawning over him. He then decided to investigate and asked Naruto, and when he found out it was clear that Kakashi himself felt disappointed in Sakura.

But the girl had apologized for what she said and even made an attempt to redeem herself. Sadly, Sasuke never bothers with her, when she talks he will throw her a glare. A glare that is very similar like when villagers glare at Naruto.

'*sigh* I'm not surprised that Sasuke is protective to that level. Having your entire family butchered in front of him will make him very protective when he remade his bonds...' Kakashi sighed.

This far all attempts to make Sasuke want to bond with Sakura ended in failure and Kakashi was not even surprised. Sakura had fawned over Sasuke -read annoying in here- for more than four years! And it was clear Sasuke was very annoyed by his fangirl, who was always bothering him.

She also treated Naruto badly in their childhood when the blond had crush on her and Naruto was Sasuke's friend at that time.

So when she insulted Naruto before the test it was the last straw. The Uchiha practically exploded and was very angry at her to the point he is not even admits her existence.

While it's true, Sasuke is still going to help Sakura if she needs help, but the boy will only help her like a machine helps its allies, that's all. He is not even treats her like human being, he treats her like a thing.

'Uchiha are famous for their revenge nature, after all. I am still surprised he is not wishes to kill Itachi, only wants to meet him.' Kakashi thought as he had worked with Uchiha in past and when they were angry or snapped the result was never pretty.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi snapped out from his mind as he heard one of his students calling him and he turned to her.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"How long is the journey to the Wave?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm... About two days. We still are in Konoha area now, if we keep walking, then tomorrow we will reach Nami no Kuni territory."

"Oh..." Sakura muttered out "Then, Tazuna-san, why would you come to our place? Are there no ninja in Nami no Kuni?" She asked her client.

"We don't have one..." Tazuna answered "Our place is mostly a port..."

"Eh? Really?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Yes..." Kakashi was the one, who answered "You must know, Sakura, not all islands or nations have Shinobi in their place. Konoha has because it is one of the biggest villages in the World. There are other three like Kiri, Kumo and Iwa. Small land like Wave fell to Kiri's protection."

"Then why didn't you go to Kiri?" Sasuke asked as he entered the conversation.

"Hmm... It could be because there are rebels in Kiri and the status of their village is still a mystery. Tazuna here can't just go there, seeing the situation, he could be killed when he entered Kiri due to accusation as being a spy of rebels, right, Tazuna?" Kakashi asked.

"Ah? Y-Yes! There is a civil war in Kiri! That's why I didn't go there..." Tazuna replied in agreement, while inwardly he sweated bullets, he couldn't go to Kiri because he would have to go through Gato to reach that village, but he did not have to do so in Konoha's case. That man is practically one of the biggest investors in Elemental Nations so, of course, before he captured Nami, he already secured his movements from Kiri.

His answer made everyone seems satisfied, however, his behavior was noted by Kakashi as the man narrowed his visible eye. Why would he be nervous about that? Does he have encounter Kiri Shinobi in the past? Or made contact with them?

"So... We won't have ninja after our asses?" Naruto asked with scowl as he felt disappointed.

"No we won't, Naruto..." Kakashi said, "This is a C-rank mission, our enemies are mostly bandits or thugs, that's all."

"Eh? They are weaklings! I can make hundred clones and rain the camp by myself!" Naruto stated, which is true actually, he alone can defeat adults and handling dozen of bandit will be easy for him.

"Shut up, Dobe, at least this is better than doing manual labour." Sasuke interjected and it made Naruto shut up. But he still was grumbling under his breath.

Kakashi again noted that Tazuna behavior was getting strange. He was tempted to interrogate him, but without strong proof it will be noted as assault on client.

'While I do not doubt Naruto and Sasuke can handle Chunin if they work together, but if it was group of them... I hope my feeling is wrong...' Kakashi thought with wary.

Few hours later, border from Konoha to Wave.

'I hate when my intuition is right about bad things...' Kakashi thought with deadpan look under his mask as he stared at the puddle he just went through with his whole team.

It was so obvious, what kind of puddle exists when there was no rain for a few days and the weather was sunny?

It was mixture between Genjutsu and water nature transformation. Quite impressive actually, but sadly it was placed in a wrong place.

He then turned his head and saw Sasuke get closer to Naruto, so the boy realized it, eh? Interesting. Naruto, who was informed by Sasuke seemed tensed before slightly relaxing, however, Kakashi noted he was ready to spring in action anytime.

He noted that Naruto was about to move to Sakura, but Sasuke grabbed his jacket and whispered something, the blond scowled and seemed irritated, but reluctantly he nodded and seemed to obey Sasuke.

'Their teamwork is good, but... If only Sakura could enter their group too...' Kakashi thought with a sigh, it seems he will need to have a chat with Sasuke.

As they kept walking past through the puddle. The water in ground slowly rose and formed into two figures, who were wearing oxygen masks.

The two of them immediately jumped and went to action, extending their poisoned gauntlets that possessed sharp shuriken chain around.

"What?!" Kakashi faked a gasp as he got bound by the sharp chain.

"One!" Gozu and Meizu exclaimed as they pulled their hands and the chain worked as it shred Kakashi apart like he was a doll.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed in worry.

**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

A large explosion of white smoke appeared and dozen clones of Naruto immediately sprung out from the smoke, launched to the Demon Brothers.

"Kage Bunshin? In that large numbers?" Gozu exclaimed in slightly surprised tone.

"This one will be interesting..." Meizu added as he readied his claw.

"Like hell it will be interesting, ttebayo! You two are going down!" Naruto declared as he ran down to the twins along with his clones.

Despite being outnumbered, Gozu and Meizu showed skill and strength that makes them worthy to be called Chunin from their village as they were able to block, dodge and counter the multiple attacks from Naruto and his clone. They also used their chain to shred apart few of the clones.

Both of them stopped when noticed there were only five Naruto left and stared at them with slight fear. Gozu and Meizu smirked seeing the boy's fear now was clear as they stepped forward together intending to kill the rest of the clones along with the original.

BRAAK!

"What?!" Gozu exclaimed with shock when suddenly a hand shot out from the ground and grabbed his ankle.

**"Doton : Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth Release : Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!)"**

"Guwaggh!"

Quickly Gozu found himself dragged down from where he stood like he was just standing in quicksand.

"Gozu!"

"Pay attention here!"

Meizu eyes widened as he momentary left his sight from Naruto and when the turned back it was too late.

"**U!**" A straight punch from the clone in stomach "**ZU!**" A sweep kick from another clone "**MA!**" Axe kick from another clone again "**KI!**" And lastly a kick from two clones from different sides and Meizu soared into the skies where the original Naruto was already waiting with his leg pointed upwards.

**"Naruto Rendan! (Uzumaki Naruto Barrage)"** Naruto declared as he brought down the leg and it hit the man's head, smacking him back to the ground with his face hit it first.

"Meizu!" Gozu yelled as he was about to break his bind in ground, however, a sharp and cold thing pressed to his throat made him freeze.

"Don't move..." Sasuke said coldly as he was crouching on his side while holding kunai to Gozu's neck, his Sharingan was already flaring to make sure the man's movement won't surprise him.

And Gozu wisely did what he ordered much to Sasuke's delight as he slightly smirked, but did not let his guard down 'Now if only I could get Kakashi back with this Jutsu...' He thought with smirk inwardly as he recalled that man drowning him in the ground during their test.

"Good job, you two..."

Everyone turned to Kakashi, who appeared from the bush, unharmed. Naruto and Sasuke were not surprised by his appearance, but Tazuna and Sakura were.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura muttered, relieve was clear in her tone "You are alive!"

"Of course I am, Sakura..." Kakashi's eye smiled "Have faith in your teacher…" He chuckled before he turned to Gozu, who still was conscious while Naruto and his clone tied up Meizu with rope "Now... What Gozu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers from Kirigakure, are doing here?" He asked as his eye became steel.

* * *

Present time in Konoha, at the way to Konoha's gate with Haru.

To be honest I never expected to enter Zabuza arc in first place and I never had a plan for it.

Why?

Because it is not just the rate of such thing is close to impossible. If I would enter normal team, I won't be sent as reinforcement. And, the chance I'll get that mission is close to zero, heck! It actually could be any other team that will be sent for the Wave mission.

Unlike major events like Chunin Exam and Invasion of Konoha, which are bound to happen and will happen, this mission is rare and it was coincidence that team 7 got the mission.

However, it seems this World really plays with Tazuna's fate and made it so he got Naruto. But still, even if he got Naruto, there was no guarantee he would get me too. And, he wouldn't if I was placed in normal team, not Backup Team like this.

Still... What could I get from this situation? I actually do not mind Zabuza or Haku dead, their death is also necessary for Naruto's growth too and I already made a plan to ensure their won't be Edo Tensei in Fourth Shinobi War later since Kabuto or Orochimaru will be dead already when that will happen.

I could take the sword...

Oh yeah... I could take it... I could have it melted and turned into new weapon, into better and more usable sword. Oh yeah, that will be very useful...

Having the sword which could eat blood to reforge itself will be very good weapon and also good for collection.

I then noticed that I was already near the gate and I could see Genma waiting for me too. Yakumo was nowhere to be seen, seems she still did not arrive. Well, I was early to come anyway.

"Genma-sensei..." I greeted.

"Hello, Casanova. Ready for the mission?" Genma asked with smirk and I nodded "Good, how are your wounds?"

Hearing his question, my hand unconsciously went to my right chest, where his senbon pierced through it. It was a week ago.

Genma came and requested private meeting with me. He then told me he wants to see my full power and since I also wanted to see my limit I decided why not?

Of course, I was not using my Sharingan or techniques like Rasengan. But I am damn sure I used all C and B rank Fire Ninjutsu that I knew on him.

And in the end I still lost. I was able to land a few good hits, but, damn, I still lost...

I know I also sent him to a hospital afterwards and he stated that I am very strong and could be considered as Elite Jonin like him, but I still lost.

How? How I'm going to beat Orochimaru and monsters like him out there if I lose against Elite Jonin? Granted, maybe Genma could be considered Jonin, given his reputation as former of Yondaime Guard Platoon.

But I still lost...

No... I'm sure I can win if I use Sharingan and high level Ninjutsu, but that's not the point. I'm sure as hell Orochimaru or Itachi can beat Genma without high level Ninjutsu or Sharingan! If they can, then why I can't?!

"I'm still no match for you, Sensei." I chuckled and Genma snorted.

"If I lose against you, Casanova, then I'm not worthy as Yondaime Guardian Platoon." He said with amusement "But still... You are pretty damn good... You know, I would be dead if I wouldn't get treatment immediately." He stated as his hand went to below side of his stomach "Your punch, if I got hit like that on my chest instead of stomach it would be instant death..."

"Well, but you are still good enough to dodge it..."

"You lack experience, Casanova..." Genma replied simply "Give it years and I am sure you will surpass even me... You are damn good, I have never seen someone like you ever since..." He paused and took stoic look.

"Ever since?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Itachi Uchiha..." Genma resumed with a grim tone as he gave me stern look.

I only stared at him with impassive look, save for my furrowed eyebrows "The one that massacre the entire Uchiha clan?"

Genma nodded at my question and turned away, staring at the sky with a strange look "Itachi Uchiha, became Genin at the age of 6, graduated from academy in one year with result as Rookie of his generation, four years later became Chunin and three years afterward became ANBU Captain." He stated "Achieving ANBU rank is not easy, becoming captain is harder. I can understand, if he achieved it at the age of 16 or 15. But 13? That was recorded in Konoha..." He said.

"Kakashi Hatake also became Genin at the age of 5, the youngest Genin in Konoha..." I pointed and he turned to me with a smirk.

"You are right, Kakashi is also quite something, to become Genin at that age, and becoming Jonin when he was 12..." Genma chuckled.

"I really do not understand..." I scowled a bit "Kakashi Hatake became Jonin at such young age. But why is he only A-rank Shinobi? And not like Densetsu Sannin, who are S-rank, his growth rate is so slow after he became Jonin. What happened?"

Genma stared at me with impassive look at my question, he chewed his senbon before spewing it out and it stabbed the wall not far from our position. Then, he turned to me with slight smile as if found my question amusing.

"You are still a child, despite you being more skilled than him, when he was at your age, eh? That's good..." Genma chuckled and I blinked "Listen, Haru, power and training are not everything in Shinobi live. There will come the time where with all the power you have, even if it could Hokage, it still won't be enough to achieve what you want..."

"Huh?" I blinked again and he only shook his head.

"The point is... No matter how strong Shinobi is, they still are Human... And trauma sometimes could do a great thing..." Genma said to me "Even turn the sharpest sword into a simple knife..." He added in a whisper tone.

I only stared blankly at him, truthfully, I know why did Kakashi Hatake not reach S-rank already. I may not be a psychiatrist, but I can't imagine what Kakashi went through, it rivalled Itachi or possibly worse. And, that trauma made his skill dulled, if only he still had one person left that he loved. Maybe now he would already become Godaime...

No matter what... It was practically a law you can't change in a World like this... You will either die as Hero... Die as man, who became empty due to the trauma... Or you will see yourself become your own worst nightmare...

I doubt Orochimaru at age 20 would be happy to see the current Orochimaru, in fact, he would kill himself to ensure he won't become what he will be in the future...

Suddenly familiar chakra approached us and I turned to see Yakumo coming to us. She waved her hand with a slight smile from afar and I waved back while Genma only nodded.

As we now gathered near the front gate of Konoha, Genma stared at us.

"I will give the mission details on the way, so let's go as soon as we can."

"Hai!"

We answered in unison and prepared to take off.

"W-Wait!"

We all stopped when we heard familiar voice and I blinked openly before turned to see the person running to me.

"Hinata?" I asked in surprise "Why are you here?"

The shy girl blushed as my gaze fell at her and she started fidgeting while poking her index fingers.

"U-Umm... I-I r-read t-the note you c-covered with Genjutsu a-and put in Uchiha compound." She stammered.

Ah, that note. Yes, I knew Hinata would visit our compound during our leave and since Naruto and Sasuke already told her they were going to leave I was sure she was going to visit me, who stay alone at that time.

And I don't want to know what she was going to do, honestly, I'm quite frightened by her. What if she uses her Byakugan to... You know what I mean... That would be very scary...

Anyway, I placed the note at the compound and covered it with layered Genjutsu. Hinata, who possesses Byakugan will be able to see it, and the reason why I put it is just in case, you know. Plastering note that there is no one in your home is stupid, so I covered it with Genjutsu.

"I see... Well, I guess you know, I will be leaving, probably a week or two..." I said and she nodded.

"B-B-rank mission i-is dangerous..." She replied "B-Be c-careful, o-okay?"

"Of course, I will!" I stated proudly "Not need to worry, Hinata, there will be Naruto and Sasuke too. You know, together we are strong!" I reassured with a smile as I knew she is actually very worried.

"I-I know, but..." She stuttered and I cut her by grasping her hand, which made her blush brighten. I then brought her hand up and rose her pinky finger.

"I swear, I will be back to you, alive with Naruto and everyone!" I declared as I make pinky promise with her.

Hinata face was pure awe and surprise –there still was blush in her face though- before it was replaced by genuine smile and she tangled my pinky back.

"Be careful..." She said softly.

"I will..." I grinned before releasing her.

"Not mean to ruin the moment, but we have to leave, Casanova."

I turned and saw Genma smirking in amusement, but his tone was serious, while Yakumo was irritated, though she tried to hide it, however, I still could see it.

"Don't worry, Hyuuga-san..." Yakumo stated as she now took my arm from Hinata, sweet smile plastered on her face "I will take care of Haru..."

Hinata narrowed her eyes at Yakumo and I could tell there will be a fight, and since we were in a hurry I decided to interfere.

"Let's go! Naruto and everyone are waiting for us!" I said to Genma, who snorted.

"Yeah... Come on, Ojou-san, remember, we have to hurry." He stated and Yakumo let out dissatisfied grunt, but nodded nonetheless.

"H-Haru-kun, t-take this just in case." Hinata then handed me some... Ointment?

Ah, if I recall this is a medical cream that she gave to Naruto in Cannon.

"Eh, a medical ointment? Thank you, Hinata. This will be useful" I said with a grin as I took it and she slightly blushed "Well, I will take my leave then..."

"O-Okay... S-See you later..."

"Yeah, see you later."

I gave one last glance at Hinata and flashed her smile and she smiled back to me before I turned and left in Shunshin, following Genma and Yakumo.

* * *

Few hours later.

"So, the possibility is we will be facing a group of Chunin and led by one Jonin?" Yakumo asked while jumping through tree.

"Correct..." Genma replied as he grabbed one of tree branches before using it to flip himself and bounced to another tree "Kakashi said his team is capable to take down the Chunin, however it will be a problem if there is more than one Jonin. Since we practically have 2 Elite Jonin in our group and one low-Chunin Ninja level, we chosen. And, Hokage-sama also wants to measure our strength..."

I said nothing as I landed in one branch before jumping to another tree while following them. While doing this, I cast a glance at one ANBU that was following us.

While we were on our way to Wave, Genma had given briefing about our mission. Apparently, Kakashi asked for reinforcement after he faced Demon Brother's and now had them guarded by one of his Ninken.

Kakashi wanted the duo missing nin be captured by Konoha and then to be given to Kiri. The bounty of those two apparently was higher if they were alive.

The ANBU that was following us is given a job to take them into custody back in Konoha, he won't participate in our mission.

"However..." Genma paused "Depending on the Jonin... It actually can become A-rank mission or even S-rank if there something unexpected will happen..." He stated grimly and I could see Yakumo slightly worried at that.

"S-S-rank?" She asked while gulping.

"Yeah... This is why Backup Team contains strong ninja... Their missions mostly are dangerous, even if the Backup Team ranked Genin, however they mostly faced against Chunin in War. Those Genin were Genin, who were already considered as Chunin." Genma explained to us.

Well, then this is our luck, this will be A-rank instead of B-rank, since there is Zabuza waiting for us. He said Kakashi already started day one... Which means, we will meet them in Tazuna's house or when the battle with Zabuza will be over then since there is no way we can reach them that fast, unless they are waiting for us, but I doubt that since staying in one place with missing nin after your life is more dangerous.

"Well..." I said as I bounced from one tree to another "This will be interesting then, right?" I asked with a slight grin "I mean, after taking manual labours for a few weeks, we finally got real mission." I elaborated at their look "Oh, don't give me that look, Genma-sensei, I may know the true meaning of D-rank, but that doesn't mean I like those missions." I scowled slightly and he laughed.

"Well, that understandable. No one likes D-rank mission after all..." Genma replied with amused face.

There was momentary of silence as we kept walking. While we were on journey, my mind actually drifted to our future encounter. With Backup Team like us come to help, I doubt Zabuza will survive against us.

It will be one-sided battle, Kakashi alone can take down Zabuza and with Genma or my help it will be our solid victory.

However... I doubt it will be that easy...

One way or another, Gato will be aware about us. No matter how stupid or midget he is, he is one of the biggest investors in Elemental Nations. He could have his ways to know about reinforcement if he wants, and he won't stay silent after learning about our existence and let Zabuza have his way, which means...

There will be reinforcement for them too...

This made me quite worried actually. What kind of reinforcement we are going to face? Gato won't rent normal ninja, Zabuza is example of that. The one he will rent will be A or B-rank Shinobi, I'm sure of that since he is quite greedy, he won't rent S-rank.

But who?

"This way..."

The voice from the ANBU broke me out from my mind as he pointed to another direction, where Kakashi supposed to leave Demon Brothers.

We all nodded then began to follow him as he led us. It wasn't long for us before we stopped, however, what came to our sight was clearly surprising.

Two dogs that were supposed to guard Demon Brothers now lying on ground... Their bodies were not moving or twitching and there were no signs of the brothers.

The ANBU immediately went down to them and began to check the dogs' bodies, we followed him as we also hopped down from the tree.

"They are not dead... But dying... They were placed in dead state by senbon." He said and my mind immediately flashed to Haku when he told us that.

I see... So Haku was already with them ever since the beginning... This is really unexpected... Then again, those two' fate was never mentioned anymore in anime. Damn that, Kishimoto, making half ass story like that.

"So, one of the enemy helpers spied on Demon Brothers ever since the beginning and waited to rescue them just in case this would happen." Genma concluded what I thought and his face adorned with a scowl "And he/she used senbon? This one must be advanced medic..." He murmured.

"Big chance it was like that..." The ANBU replied with nod before he carried two dogs and stood "I will take dogs and bring them back to Konoha. You three should continue your mission..."

"You won't help us anymore?" Yakumo asked in surprised tone.

"My mission was to take the _captured_ Demon Brothers to Konoha. That's it, and not to capture them if they escaped before I take them. Sure, I would help if they escaped under my watch, but if not, then it is not my responsibility." ANBU replied in stoic and nonchalant tone.

Yakumo appeared to be upset at his attitude, but me and Genma remained impassive. Unlike us, while we are Ninja, we are not forced to obey everything Hokage say. For example, Hokage can't force us to take a mission that we don't want, neither he can force us to take apprenticeship.

However, ANBU is different, they are Ninja that will only take orders from Hokage and the orders from him are absolute, even if Hokage tell them to kill themselves they will do it without hesitation.

This ANBU mission was to escort the captured Demon Brothers, that was what Hiruzen ordered him and if they escape before they get escorted, then it not his problem.

"I will take my leave then, good luck on your mission." The ANBU said as he carried two of Kakashi summon dogs and left via Shunshin.

Yakumo crossed her arms and scowled a bit after she saw him gone "I don't like him. Does every ANBU is like that?"

"You could say so..." Genma responded to her comment "ANBU life is not as light and peaceful as ours. So you have to understand why they act like that... Anyway, let's keep going, but keep your eyes open, who knows if the enemy set trap near us."

We both gave a nod to him and he made a gesture with his head before he jumped to a tree, we followed him soon.

So we will have Demon Brothers ready to greet us in the next battle, huh? Now I think about it, it was logical for Haku to save them since they are in Zabuza's team.

I don't know much about their skills since they were defeated pretty easy by Kakashi, however I'm sure when facing against Sasuke he only caught them by surprise. If there was a proper match it would be harder to beat them.

Two Chunin, one Elite Jonin and one A-rank Jonin. And there will be reinforcement from Gato too, it will be one or two people, if my guess is right.

Sasuke and Naruto can take down high-Chunin if they work together, I think Yakumo can work with them to face Demon Brothers again. Kakashi will possibly take Zabuza again. Genma and I will handle the reinforcement. Sakura could guard Tazuna I guess.

Well, hopefully, the reinforcement won't be that strong... But I hope it will be strong too.

Because I clearly need to see how strong I am if I go all out with Sharingan and all techniques I have...

* * *

One day later, at Zabuza's hideout.

We found Zabuza currently lying on his bed, his mind drifted to the battle he just did with Kakashi the Sharingan.

It was clear that man is strong like what rumour said about him. Zabuza has no shame losing this battle to him, seeing he is clearly strong.

However, even if he lost in the battle, it doesn't mean he is going to lose in War. This is far from being over, he already had Haku observe their battle and he is sure the ice user intelligence will give what Zabuza needs to defeat that man.

'And there are the brats of him too...' Zabuza thought with narrowed eyes.

He already had Kakashi in water prison, but those brats of him were clearly not normal ones. They were at least could be considered as low-Chunin level Shinobi, despite their Genin status.

The orange and loud mouthed brat is a chakra monster. Spamming dozens of clones like that and not showing any sign of exhaustion is something for someone at his age. Despite his skill is not that great, his chakra and wind Ninjutsu cover the basic. To be honest, that boy reminded Zabuza about Kisame, who possessed large chakra reserve and was called Tailed Beast without a Tail.

There was that Uchiha Boy... The boy that comes from that tragic clan. Oh yeah, clearly, that boy is also skilled, as expected from Uchiha. And while he is not chakra monster, his skill is Chunin level. The only thing that holds him back probably is experience, something you cannot gain easily.

Haku will be able to handle them... He knew his weapon is strong enough and there are Demon Brothers too, they just got caught by surprise.

There is a reason why they entered Bingo Book and fled with him, after all. Zabuza never picks useless people, next battle will be different. He will win.

"Zabuza, are you okay?" Gozu asked as he approached him.

"I'm fine..." The Demon of Kirigakure grunted "Where's Haku?"

"Gone to gather herbs for your recovery..."

"How about Meizu?"

"He is gone with Haku just in case... I wanted to tell you that Gato is outside..."

Zabuza narrowed his not visible eyebrows at that. What that midget wants? He probably came for gloating and, as much Zabuza hates to admit it, he did fail this time.

"But there is another person with him..." Gozu added.

"Oh?" Zabuza said with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, it seems he brought extra help for us. He said one of his people spotted Konoha's reinforcement..."

Zabuza scowled under his mask, so Kakashi is not that stupid, eh? Well, that was to be expected, but who's the reinforcement from Konoha? But moreover…

"Who is going to work with us?" He asked, he is not going to deny extra help seeing the situation now. But that doesn't mean he is going to like it if this person is asshole and can't work with them.

Gozu opened his mouth to speak, however, before he could, the door opened and revealed unfamiliar figure.

"So this is condition of Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist), huh?"

Gozu and Zabuza turned to the person, who had spoken, and Zabuza eyes narrowed when he saw the man. He recognized this person from Bingo Book.

"You are..."

* * *

Meanwhile with Kakashi.

Kakashi let out sigh as he rested on the bed after his fight a few hours ago. Chakra exhaustion due to overuse Sharingan always was a problem for him, however, thankfully he is not too exhausted.

This mission gone from B-rank to A-rank now... Seriously, what Tazuna is thinking lying like this. If it was another Jonin, who was facing Zabuza, he would already be going to be dead now along with the entire squad.

Then again, not all Jonin are going to accept this mission. Kakashi was bored that's why he agreed to continue, plus Sasuke and Naruto proved to be more than capable. It is clear, he is going to enlist them in this Chunin Exam, they are more than ready.

'But there is Sakura... If their teamwork will improve and they will finally get along, I guess, I will enlist them...' He thought with sigh and part of his mind couldn't help but to add a small comment 'That if we survive here...'

Oh yeah, he knew the Hunter nin before was fake. He just thought about it recently and found that it is really strange that Hunter nin did not dispose the body immediately but instead carried it away.

Hunter nin, after all, always dispose the body immediately the moment they catch their target.

"Kakashi-sensei, how is your condition?" Sakura asked as she came from the door and approached him.

Kakashi turned to Sakura, his team still was not being told about Zabuza might be alive. Howeverб he knew he will have to tell them soon and now is the time.

"I'm fine... Only exhausted... Where's Sasuke and Naruto?" He asked.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto patrol around the house to check its safety." Sakura answered and grimaced slightly at mention of Sasuke name. She lowered her head and shame adorned her face "I didn't do anything in the battle..." She muttered.

Sakura must admit she clearly feels so shameful. The moment she entered this team she was thinking it will be Naruto, who stood in her and Sasuke-kun way. But the reality is not like that, it was her, who stood in Naruto and Sasuke-kun way.

She is weak...

A few weeks ago there was a spar contest between three of them to determine their skill. She was eager to show her skill, to prove herself to Sasuke-kun that she is not weak. And, when she was paired with Naruto, she was able to fight the blond toe on toe!

That was until Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun told Naruto to stop holding back. Apparently, the blond didn't want to hit her due to being afraid hurting her much to her dismay and she demanded Naruto to take her seriously.

She did not last longer than one minute against the blond.

Naruto immediately spammed dozen of clones and while she could hold against three or four, but she was immediately overwhelmed afterwards by the rest of Naruto clones.

She is the weakest in her group... Naruto and Sasuke are just too far for her... This mission is the proof of that...

"To be blunt, Sakura." Kakashi said "You are not wrong entirely..." He stated without feeling any remorse "Compared to Sasuke and Naruto, who had trained their whole live, you are out of their league..." He sighed as he saw the girl feeling down "However... You indeed proved to be able to master tree climbing at your first try, that was something." He praised slightly and it was true, despite her low chakra, she is able to control it very well.

"Really?" Sakura immediately beamed at the sudden praise.

"Yep... I suggest you have training in Genjutsu or medical Ninjutsu." Kakashi stated with a nod.

"C-Can you teach me, Sensei?" Sakura asked in hopeful tone.

"Well... I can teach you one or two things about Genjutsu, but nothing about medical Ninjutsu. I only know one that used for emergency, you have to go to hospital and look for mentor for you to continue lessons." Kakashi answered with hum, and he was being honest. He is more specialized in Ninjutsu aspect, after all, there is a reason why he copied over thousand Jutsu with his Sharingan.

However, that answer was still able to make Sakura happy as bright smile adorned her face. It was fine for her, as long as she could be useful. Even if it was after the battle and as support, at least she can prove that she is Shinobi.

"Anyway, Sakura I want you to find the boys because I have to-"

Suddenly, there was a knock of the door before it opened and revealed Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter.

"Kakashi-san? There are people, who are looking for you." Tsunami said "They said they came from Konoha..."

"Eh? From Konoha?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"I asked for reinforcement after we faced Demon Brothers in forest." Kakashi explained as he rose from his bed and took sit position, he was able to move, walk and run, but not very fast "Can you describe their appearance?" He asked Tsunami.

"Umm... One is a man around your age with brown hair, bandana and has... Toothpick in his mouth. Second is a boy and third is a girl around Naruto-san and everyone age." Tsunami said as she tried to recall the guests' appearance.

'Genma... So it really Backup Team, eh?' Kakashi mused and nodded "I recognize them, well, you can send them in."

Tsunami nodded before she left from the door and Sakura turned to him.

"Whom did you request for help, Sensei?" She asked.

"Backup Team..." Kakashi answered with eye smile.

And as if called, the door opened and revealed the members of Backup Team with its leader. Kakashi smirked and Sakura gasped when recognized familiar person.

"You look like crap, Kakashi." Genma stated with amusement in his tone.

"Genma, nice to see you again." Kakashi greeted back with his usual eye smile.

"Eh?! Haru-san!" Sakura blurted in surprise, she never thought the reinforcement will be someone at her age.

Haru meanwhile only flashed her polite smile and raised one hand "Hello, Sakura-san." He greeted back.

The Backup Team has arrived!

* * *

**Yep! It finally done**

**Sorry for disappointing you all in fight scene, there nothing much for now since they just arrive**

**And you all right, Gozu and Meizu down too easy because they just caught in surprise and underestimate Naruto and Sasuke. And there Kakashi too that make them can't act much**

**They will be quite challenge later when the showdown come and there will be surprise for you all**

**This chapter also show Sasuke that being OC where he quite protective for his people that he currently made bonds. I'm not bashing Sakura in here but you must admit my reason was tolerable**

**Sakura has treat Naruto badly ever since in childhood such as hitting him or like that. And not just that, she also one of fangirl that quite fanatic to Sasuke (displayed in Cannon for that in episode 3 at anime)**

**Her fangirl behavior already black list on Sasuke book, added Naruto bad treatment was already second strike and when she bad mouthed him it was strike three or the last straw**

**His anger is reasonable and you all see how Uchiha angry and protective toward their people after all, it even stated by Tobirama that their love surpass even Senju love. So my argument is reasonable**

**Sakura will change during near Chunin exam but don't expect much from her in this arc. In Cannon she also useless after all in this arc**

**Zabuza reinforcement, I was plan to use one of Cannon character actually. Do you have any suggestion who it will be? You can help me by that just add it in review**

**As for Haku gender, it still going to mysterious lol! Hahaaha you all will see it later about his/her gender XD**

**Naruto and Sasuke level, they on same level when they in preliminaries Chunin Exam. So yes, they quite strong actually**

**And lastly! We have small celebration in order! This story reach 100 favorites! Yaaay! It maybe only small number but we reach 100 is still something! Thanks everyone who love this story and keep giving review!**

**Next chapter will be small training and spar before we reach the showdown in this arc!**

**Stay tune if you wish to know the continuation of this story! And please give Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	13. Training before Battle! Pt 1

**This chapter have been edited by Froua******de**! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 12. Training before Battle! Pt. 1**

* * *

"So let me get this straight, you fought Zabuza, got careless as a result got trapped in** Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)** then your boys set you free and you beat him. However, afterwards, there was Hunter nin intercepted your fight by killing Zabuza with senbon to his neck and took his body away?" Genma asked Kakashi, who sat in the bed.

"Pretty much so..." Kakashi answered with a nod.

"You should know that Hunter nin always dispose the body on the place immediately, right? That was their protocol to ensure the safety and secret of their village." Genma commented.

"You are right on that, Genma, I didn't think about it because I was quite exhausted at that time. I was barely able to run at my prime speed." Kakashi admitted and defended himself at the same time.

Right now my team and Team 7 currently sat in the room, where Kakashi rested. After brief introduction, Sakura gone to call Sasuke and Naruto back to meet us and he said he wants to tell them something –which, I guess, must be about Zabuza-. And, when they saw me, let's just say, they were surprised, but I could tell they seemed happy, it was me, who became reinforcement, though they seemed quite awkward at Yakumo's presence.

Our seat position was: Yakumo on my right and on her side is Sakura, while on my left is Naruto and on his side is Sasuke. Genma sat on side of Kakashi futon. Oh, and there was Tazuna too, since he is the client we thought he should know about us too.

"What's the point talking about this anyway, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked with a scowl "Zabuza is dead, his body got carried by that hunter ninja, right?"

"The Dobe is right, Kakashi-sensei... If there is a thing we should talk it is better to be about handling Gato..." Sasuke grunted while crossing his arms, Sakura also seemed to agree as I saw her nod, so do Yakumo.

"That's where you are all wrong..." I stated, gaining all Genin attention "Tell me Sasuke, what was that Hunter nin weapon again?"

"Senbon..." Sasuke said and I nodded.

"True, it is common to target neck since it was vital point of our body, however, the problem is this Hunter nin weapon was Senbon." I replied before turned to Genin "Senbon's real purpose is acupuncture medical treatment rather than attacking because its power is low. This Hunter nin should have used kunai or shuriken rather than senbon if he/she wished to kill Zabuza…"

"So you are saying that the Hunter nin did not kill Zabuza? But Kakashi-sensei checked Zabuza's body and made sure he is dead!" Naruto argued.

"Do you know there are few acupuncture points in a body that if you get stabbed in will only make you look like dead?" I asked again and this time all Genin froze while Yakumo's eyes widened "Yes, Yakumo, we encountered this before yesterday when we wanted to take Demon Brothers to custody." I added as I saw that Yakumo understand it first.

"Are you telling me... Zabuza was only placed in death-like state? Then, that Hunter nin is Zabuza's ally!" Sasuke concluded with wide eyes.

"You got that right, Uchiha..." Genma remarked "An expert in senbon use can easily put their target into coma or death-like condition if they want, its purpose is actually to sedate the patient if there is no sedative when it's needed. However, if people play it right, it could be used to fool enemies, like this case." He told us all before turned to Kakashi.

"W-Wait! Wait! Wait! Aren't you all being too much? There's no guarantee that man is still alive! You even checked the body!" Tazuna said as I could tell he was now quite panicked and I really couldn't blame him, he just got hunted by super ninja that was able to summon giant dragon of water and blast away portion of forest.

"Like Genma said, there is a big chance he was put into near death-like state." Kakashi said, crushing the hope that Tazuna has as I could see that the old man cringed.

"Speaking about death-like situations, Kakashi your two dogs were found in that state and Demon Brothers gone missing." Genma told him and Kakashi snapped his neck to him quite fast.

"What?!" Kakashi asked with pure surprise and worry.

"The ANBU already taken care of them, don't worry, they will be fine. However, it is a big chance the one that put them in that state is the same person who helps Zabuza." Genma reassured Kakashi as he knew the Dog summon was really close to him.

The silver haired man let out breath of relieve at that. He then pinched his nose bridge before clearing his throat.

"So... We have Demon Brothers back, Zabuza and one of his mysterious allies that is very skilled in human anatomy." Kakashi concluded.

"Two Chunin, one Elite Jonin Shinobi and one solid Jonin against one Jonin, one Elite Jonin and four Genin... That isn't fair, right?" Sakura asked in slightly frightened tone.

"Well... If you put it that way..."

"Hey! No need to be negative like this!" Naruto shouted in a positive manner "Sasuke and I can kick those Demon Brothers asses! Haru here can deal with Zabuza mysterious ally! Kakashi-sensei and Genma-sensei can handle Zabuza himself!" He stated proudly with a grin to encourage us and it did as Sakura seemed to look more confident.

"You two defeated Demon Brothers?" I asked with blink, clearly surprised "Not that I doubt your two's skills, but..."

"Haru is right." Kakashi continued when I trailed off "You two may be able to defeat Demon Brothers, but you were able to because they underestimated you and were surprised. Your next encounter against them will be different..." He said with grim look.

"And don't forget about enemy can possibly get extra reinforcement." I added my opinion, which made everyone turn to me this time "What? This is Gato, one of the biggest investors in Elemental Nations. And, now he focused himself on the Wave, I am sure he already spotted us and seeing Zabuza and his group lost against yours, then he is going to rent extra ninja because how Zabuza will win if there was our reinforcement, when he lost against only your group?"

Everyone stared at me with surprised look as if I just spoke some breaking news that was very up-to-date. Eventually, silence was broken by Kakashi.

"Very sharp one you have, eh, Genma?" Kakashi asked with amused eye smile.

"You don't have any idea..." Genma snorted in the same amusement.

I only blinked to the two veteran Shinobi. Sakura stared at me with awe, Yakumo gave impressed nod, Sasuke only smirked and Naruto-

"I hate it when you're like this..." Naruto said in deadpan tone.

"What? What do you mean by that?!"

"When you act like some kind of guy, who always brings bad news to us and makes the whole group down to negative!"

"On my defence, I was just stating fact and reality." I defended myself with a smirk.

"Then, what about when we were six? When we were about to interview that Ibiki guy?! You scared us with the rumour!"

"Hey! Those rumours do exist! I just told you all the information I got."

"Then how about when you made calculation about the grade in academy?"

"I only told the system! And it was all the truth!"

"Then, how about my future clan?" Sasuke entered our conversation with a scowl.

"It was a fact Sasuke, a fact. I mean, you and Itachi were born in different eras, he lived in the war and you live in a peaceful one! Of course, he is stronger than you!"

"Well, you don't need to rub it in my face!"

"I'm not! Like I said, I am just being blunt and stating the truth!"

"Okay! Okay! As if it's amusing to watch you three bickering!" Kakashi come and interject our conversation, I could see there was a smile behind his mask, clearly, he was amused by our antic "Right now, cast that aside, we need to discuss what we are going to do..."

"Training, of course." I responded "This situation is not that bad... We are not losing, in fact we may be equal."

"Umm, Haru-san. I'm not trying to be negative here, but will small training help us? I mean, we are facing experienced Shinobi here." Sakura said in a tone that asked 'Are you stupid or what?'

I only gave her my polite smile in response, not being even slightly offended by her tone.

"Sakura-san, Sasuke and Naruto could take down Demon Brothers. True, it was only by surprise, but surely they can do that again. If they improved so far, then they will catch them by surprise again..." I reassured with a smile.

"Haru is right." Kakashi chimed in "A small power can make a big change if used in right time." He agreed with me as he gave me a nod.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! Everything will be fine!" Naruto declared with reassuring grin "Besides, we have Haru here!" He then proceeded to hug me with one arm "Haru is strong! Stronger than me and Sasuke combined!" He said while flashing a grin of confidence to everyone.

"Eh?!" Sakura asked with shock, Yakumo appeared to be not surprised so do Genma and Kakashi "B-But! A-Aren't Sasuke-kun is the one, who is Rookie of our generation?!"

Now, that made Yakumo slightly surprised as she turnув to me with demanding look.

"That just a little over ninja academy." Sasuke grunted "I don't know why, but Haru here decided to hold back. If he was serious, it would be him to become Rookie, not me." He said as he glanced at me.

"I'm not that good." I chuckled while waving my hand "Anyway! We better go train rather than discussing things like this, we have enemy to fight, you know."

"Yosh! Our first true mission with Haru too!" Naruto stated with big grin as he stood up "This will be awesome!"

Team 7 only sighed at Naruto's enthusiasm, as if it was routine for them. I only chuckled, well, among everyone Naruto is the one, who has huge stamina.

To be honest, in the future when Naruto will master Kyuubi's power I don't think any Kage will be able to beat him. The one, who can give him a good fight is only Hashirama's generation if I were to make a guess.

Like it or not, it will be him, who will become my biggest and strongest enemy in the future... Along with Sasuke...

Asura and Indra...

"What awesome?"

A new voice appeared and it got our attention as we turned to see... Inari? Yeah, it's Inari

"Who's this brat?" Naruto asked with a blink.

"Ah, Inari! You finally came home, eh? Here, meet these superb people, who protected your grandfather!" Tazuna said as he stood up and went to Inari's side.

Said boy only stared at us with blank look before turned back to him.

"Grandpa, they are going to be dead." He said bluntly.

Ouch! Thanks for the confidence, support brat...

"What?!" Naruto yelled in enraged manner "Hey, you, brat! Take that back! We are ninja! We will beat Gato and Tazuna-san, ttebayo!"

Inari only stared at him again as if he was the biggest idiot in the World.

"You are all going to die. No one wins against Gato..." He said bluntly again before turning to Tazuna "Mom said dinner is ready." He told Tazuna before leaving the room.

"Oi! You!" Naruto seemed fuming, but the boy only ignored him and went out. I only narrowed my eyebrow at the child, who left.

"Forgive Inari, he had a hard time in the past." Tazuna said in apologetic tone "Why don't we have dinner for now? It's been quite a long day, after all!"

"Right, you all go on dinner first, kids. Genma and I want to talk about something..." Kakashi said with eye smile "And no, you can't join. It's adult talk, you have to be over 15 in order to join our conversation." Kakashi added when Naruto opened his mouth.

"Pervert!" Naruto, I and Sasuke immediately stated at the same time.

The two adults only gave us a smirk or smile of their own.

* * *

Kakashi and Genma watched the boys and girls leave the room. Their expression contained what people describe as amusement, but soon it was gone and was replaced by each of their calm look.

"I heard you were sent to hospital a week ago..." Kakashi remarked

"I am... My internal organs got pummeled, chakra exhaustion, second degree burns covered most of my body, and there were multiple cuts from kunai too." Genma replied.

"That was very serious, you could have died, you know." Kakashi said with thoughtful face under his mask.

"If I didn't get to hospital in 15 minutes, I would be dead already... It was pure luck the place of my battle was near the hospital." Genma snorted with slight smirk.

"You are Minato-sensei's platoon guard, you may be Elite Jonin, but you can become Jonin if you want. You are one of the best ninja we have..." Kakashi stated.

"Well, I admit, I'm not as great as Asuma, Gai or you. But yeah, I guess you could say I'm good..." Genma admitted without any hint of modesty and Kakashi snorted.

"Still as cocky as usual, eh?"

"You are the one to talk, you talked down to Gai and his father before Gai entered academy."

Kakashi grimace was obvious, despite it being covered by his mask. Oh yeah, he remembered that time. It was when his father was still alive.

"Maito Dai is a great man, Kakashi. He faced the whole **Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kiri)** by himself and saved my life along with Gai and Ebisu." Genma said in solemn tone "The Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū we were facing is the strongest generation, said the seven of them could take down Kage level Shinobi without having hard time, if they worked together. And Maito Dai, who was eternal Genin, faced them alone, and he also was able to give us long time to escape from them..." Genma stated with respect as he remembered the time, when he was trapped with Ebisu and Gai.

"I know... You didn't need to remind me..." Kakashi said as he knows well what happened to Gai's father, the man, who was able to fend off and even wound half of the Kiri's Swordsmen. He was a very strong man and should be respected.

"Well, just in case if you were back to your emo-self..." Genma smirked "Someone had to knock some sense into your head..."

"Why, thank you, Genma, your help is very much appreciated." Kakashi snorted with sarcasm "Anyway... That wounds of yours... The one, who injured you, is..."

"Yes, it's Haru..." Genma admitted with a nod, his face gone back to calm expression "That boy is anything but Genin, he is strong enough to become Elite Jonin already. Heck, he even surpasses Ebisu perhaps..."

"That great, huh?" Kakashi murmured.

"You should've seen him. It looks like he already mastered his affinity -which is fire-, his taijutsu is also stronger than most Chunin and could be considered Jonin, his Genjutsu could give Kurenai run off money and his **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**..." Genma paused as his face morphed to serious "I could say he is second coming of Shisui Uchiha... His Shunshin is very good and it really reminds me of Shisui..."

"Incredible..." Kakashi murmured in slight awe "All that skills at the age of 12? Even I was not that skilled... And his Shunshin, is it really that good?"

"Well, Hokage-sama told me that Shisui had spent time with him in the past. It seems, he was interested in him too, Shisui found Haru when he was training till exhausted... And afterwards Hokage-sama said Shisui taught Haru a little..." Genma stated.

"Well... Shisui is pretty much talented actually... He's also a good guy, his Shunshin kinda reminds me of **Hiraishin no Jutsu**, though it's only second or third rate." Kakashi commented as he had seen Shisui fighting in the past, during the war "Shunshin no Jutsu and Genjutsu... Well, it seems Haru possess Shisui's ability, Shisui is also very strong at genjutsu..."

"It seems so... And there's more..." Genma said and he smirked, when saw Kakashi's disbelief in his eye "That boy is strong, Kakashi, he is stronger than me already. He could beat me, he was still holding back. I don't know, what is it, but he seems to have few aces under his sleeve that able to beat me, but he decided to not use it, maybe wanted to test his limit..."

"Test his limit?" Kakashi single visible eyebrow rose "That is very similar like someone..." He said grimly as his mind drifted to certain Uchiha that slaughtered his clan.

"You can say so... And not just that, apparently he also reminded Hokage-sama of certain snake..." Genma commented as he remembered his conversation with Hiruzen.

If it was possible, Kakashi single eye became even grimmer at the mention of Orochimaru. He had encountered the snake himself and admits that he was actually afraid of him when he was young.

"That boy is dangerous." Kakashi said grimly and Genma nodded in agreement.

"He is... He seems to be a combination of Orochimaru and Itachi... His talent and his skills in battle could be compared to both of them when they were at Haru's age... However..." Genma smiled a bit as he paused "There is a difference between him and those two... Haru is more humane than them... As you can see, he is still able to laugh and make friends, he even shows good leadership. It was said that Orochimaru was lone wolf when he was in his young, save for Hokage and his teammates, Itachi was also like him, a lone wolf..."

"But Haru is not..." Kakashi continued with a nod as he now understood the difference "Haru is an open person and he also more normal than them, yes, I can understand now what you mean..." He paused and rubbed his chin beneath his mask "So, that's why Hokage-sama did not graduate him early..."

"Yes... Haru possesses something that Orochimaru and Itachi don't, he possesses bonds, a very strong ones to Shino, Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke. He cares for them, kind to them and like family to them. That's the difference between him and Orochimaru and Itachi... He has bonds..." Genma said softly "And that's why Hokage-sama did not force him to graduate early, he doesn't want risk Haru to become second Orochimaru by pulling Haru from his bonds..." He finished his explanation.

"I see..." Kakashi murmured in understanding. Truthfully, past few weeks he had tried to search about Haru and found he seems to be only normal skilled boy in public, save for Ibiki. Apparently, the boy seemed to encounter with the Chef of T &amp; I Konoha Division, Naruto remark about how Haru scared them when they wanted to interview Ibiki is the proof of that.

He also went to Hokage directly, but the old man only laughed and stated there is nothing to worry about him and he should just take care of his own team rather than care for another.

'I know, the boy is not dangerous... Hokage-sama had made sure of that, the boy now have so many bonds and even very close to Naruto and Sasuke like brother and family... But...' Kakashi's eyes became grimmer as he stared at the scenery outside through window 'But why do I still have this bad feeling about him?'

If there is one thing Kakashi believes in it is his intuition when things get bad. He doesn't know why or how. but most of times his intuition about bad things is always right in the end. True, it is not always right, but it is being right in much more cases than being wrong.

'I just hope this time I'm wrong...' He thought with grim.

* * *

Next day.

It was a morning after everyone just had breakfast. We found the two teams that were staying in Tazuna's house now standing in the middle of forest.

"Alright everyone..." Genma called as he stared at Backup Team and Team 7 with Kakashi on his side, the man already could walk and stand, but it was clear he is still not in his prime condition "As you can see, Zabuza was put in death-like state. When someone got hit like that, the damage is not light. People won't be able to move or get in his/her prime condition in a week or more. Since Zabuza is not a normal person, let's assume we have a week to train. Any questions before we begin?" He asked and then Naruto rose his hand "Yes?"

"Where's Haru? I don't see him..." Naruto asked and everyone also asked that question in their minds since they did not see the other boy ever since the morning.

"Haru decided to stay on Tazuna's side, he is currently on the bridge and on guard duty since he is quite... Advanced and already knows this training." Genma answered with a slight pause "Now, Kakashi had told me you three already mastered tree climbing exercise. We will move to the next level then, water walking." He said as he gestured at the lake behind them.

"Water walking? Is it similar to tree walking?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, it is similar. However, the difference is you have to keep channelling your chakra instead of gluing it to your leg and the amount of chakra you let out must always be the same and balanced. If it will be too much it will explode the water beneath you, if it will be too low, you will sink." Genma explained with a nod.

"That sounds hard..." Sakura said with a slight scowl.

"I will master this before the end of the day!" Naruto declared immediately with a big grin as he made hand seals and run to the lake.

"Hmph! Your wish Dobe, I will finish it first!" Sasuke declared as he also followed his rival, not wanting to be left behind.

The rest of them couldn't help but sweatdropped as they saw the boy's race to the lake as if they were just racing for oscar award.

"Hey, this is not too hard. I think I can do it!"

"Hmph, I'll also finish."

"E-Eh? W-Wait! M-My leg is-"

SPLASH! SPLASH!

"Gaggh! Cold ttebayo!"

"Gugh! Tch!"

And the sweatdrop got bigger when both of them sunk into the water not long after they stood in the lake. Genma and Kakashi let out chuckle while Sakura slightly giggled, Yakumo only had amused smirk on her face.

In this moment Sakura realized that they will get wet eventually if they fall and it made her freeze.

"W-Wait Sensei! I-If we fall we will get wet then, right?" Sakura asked.

"Of course you are, that is water not fire." Genma answered in 'well duh' tone.

"B-But t-that means! W-We..." Sakura trailed off as she blushed and began to look at herself. Both men realized what she means, Kakashi only giggled perversely and Genma rolled his eyes.

"Just remove your clothes, you can wear your underwear or undergarment. And no need to be shy, it's not like we will be leering your body, we had seen a lot better than you two, anyway." Genma said with a smirk much to Sakura chagrin as she gave a glare to him.

"Well... Good luck then, Sakura-san!" Yakumo exclaimed as she patted Sakura's back "I already mastered this one, so I will use another training method and increase my stamina. That's my weak point after all."

"E-Eh?! B-But Y-Yakumo-san!" Sakura is all but panicked now. At first she thought it might be better with Yakumo here, they both can at least remove their cloth together but hearing that clearly crushed her hope.

"You already mastered it?" Kakashi asked and Yakumo nodded "Pity, you seem to have a better figure..."

"Pervert." Yakumo replied in a flat tone and glared though there was a slight blush on her pale face. She admits, she also has a good figure, not exaggerated, but it is still healthy and attractive on its own way "I'm 12, you what? 40? Realize your age, old man! You even have grey hair!"

"It's silver!" Kakashi retorted indignantly "And I'm not old! I'm not even 30! I'm still young man! Why everyone seems to think I'm older than I look!" He grumbled as he went sulking in the one corner of a tree and made a random drawing with his finger on the ground.

"Ignore him, you already mastered it? Well, then you can work for your stamina. Go climb that tree while having leaf exercise at the same time, keep running straight up, down for 30 minutes." Genma ordered to Yakumo, who nodded.

Genma smirked when he saw Sakura, who nervously and timidly hid behind a tree, no doubt, she is shy. It's not like he enjoys seeing her naked, like Genma said he already saw better bodies and Sakura is quite undeveloped. He is just amused seeing newbie act like this, though it will be annoying when they act like newbies in crucial moment.

His eyes then moved to Sasuke, who already stripped his cloth so it will not get in the way. Naruto followed him as he also stripped away his cloth, however Genma's eyes widened when he noticed seal symbol appeared on his stomach.

"Oi, Kakashi!" Genma called and Kakashi stopped sulking as he turned to him. In response, Genma tilted his head at Naruto's direction and the last student of Yondaime followed his gaze before his eye widened when he got what Genma meant.

"Maa, Naruto! Can you stop and come here for a moment?" Kakashi called as he saw Naruto's tattoo is visible, but when he turned to him it was gone.

Naruto scowled, but he came to him anyway, only in his green boxer and orange strip. Kakashi inwardly shuddered seeing the color, kinda reminded him of Gai. He never thought Naruto will be wearing green 'I won't have him near Gai... He and his pupil are already enough, there is no need for another one!' He thought with shudder.

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?! I need to beat Teme over there!"

Kakashi only mentioned Naruto to move closer before began whispering on his ear. Naruto at first was simply annoyed before his face morphed to shock and his skin became paler, he looked down at his stomach and noticed that the seal is not visible, not anymore.

He exhaled sigh of relief before turned back to Kakashi and nodded. Kakashi nodded back before placing hand over his shoulder and both of them gone in Shunshin no Jutsu.

"Where did the Dobe and Kakashi-sensei go?" Sasuke asked Genma as he saw Naruto gone.

"He has a small problem and needs to talk with Naruto. Don't mind them, just do your own work..."

Sasuke scowled at that, but he nodded nonetheless. He is going to ask Dobe himself later, but for now it would better if he mastered this exercise, he will rub it in his face when he will finish first!

Genma only sighed as he rubbed his temple. He surprised Naruto was still not telling them but again, this is big secret actually and he knew if he was in Naruto's age and position he would do the same.

"Sakura, if you won't start training, you will be left behind!"

"EEEP! H-Hai S-Sensei!"

* * *

Meanwhile with Tazuna and Haru.

"Did you not go to train with your friends this morning?" Tazuna asked.

"Nope, I am already good enough and mastered the exercise. So I will be your guard today..." I answered with polite smile.

Truthfully, I didn't mind being left alone. In fact, I was happy, I'm outside Konoha and everyone is busy with their own work, which means no one can see or found me...

I could train all techniques I know but forbidden to reveal like Rasengan, Chidori, etc. Oh yeah, with my chakra control it won't be too difficult to make Rasengan or Chidori in week or two.

I already can form the first and second stage of Rasengan, but I stuck in the third stage. Seriously, the third is the hardest. You combine the first and second at the same time, by making shell shaped sphere from the first and put the strength from the second inside it. Afterwards, you make sure it keeps spinning in order to cause big damage, the faster the spin, the stronger the damage.

And, to be honest, it is hard. I could complete it if I used Kage Bunshin, but I must not depend on that. I have to master it with one hand and alone, this actually could be considered as chakra control training, after all.

"Really? So Naruto was not lying, you are stronger than him and the other boy, what was his name? Sasuke."

"To be honest, yes, I am. After all, I am the one, who trained them when they were young." I admitted with a nod and he showed surprised look.

"Really? But you are about the same age as them!" Tazuna exclaimed with surprise.

"We three were orphans..." I said bitterly and Tazuna's eyes widened "Or used to be, in Sasuke's case, his parents got murdered by another Shinobi while Naruto and I were in one orphanage."

"I see... It must be harsh for you three then..." Tazuna commented with sympathy in his voice "I'm sorry to hear that..."

"Don't be, it's already in past. It was harsh, of course, but we managed to get along. Since we are orphans, we decided to dedicate our lives to become Shinobi and serve our village since it was all we had other than each other. We trained hard in young age and now here we are, becoming Shinobi and each of us has own goal." I replied to him with slight smile.

"Your own goal, eh? Well, I guess for someone young like you, especially Shinobi, should have one, eh? So what is yours? Naruto wants to become Hokage, right?" Tazuna chuckled while doing his work.

"Yeah, Naruto wants to become Hokage because he wishes to be acknowledged by everyone. And, yes, I know, that is actually quite stupid, but I let him have his dream for a moment. He will realize it sooner or later, anyway." I said with chuckle before paused and tapped my chin "As for me... My dream..."

My dream is to become God after gaining Rinnegan. I will ascended into Juubi Jinchuuriki without extracting Kyuubi or other Bijuu from their own Jinchuuriki, if necessary, such thing is possible, seeing Gedo Mazo only needs to eat portion of all Bijuu chakra.

Though, I will have to dispose of Black Zetsu first after I'll turn into Juubi Jinchuuriki. That thing will be troublesome in the future, he needs to die fast.

But afterwards, what then?

"I guess, my dream is to find peace in this cruel World..." I said softly, which made Tazuna stare at me with bewilderment.

"Peace?"

"Look around us... Hatred, lonely, poor people, and violence always happen..." I said as I gestured at the surroundings "I want to change this World, turn it into better one... The World, where people live being happy and smiling..." I murmured as I observed Wave from the bridge.

Yeah... I think, I will change this World once I'll become God. I will create peace, either through tyranny or negotiations... And after I will be done I will leave this World and travel around, I guess. I will reawaken Rinne-Sharingan and go through multiple dimensions.

"Peace, huh?" Tazuna also murmured as he looked at me with soft and unreadable expression, but it only lasted for a moment before it was replaced by a smile "I think that is a good dream, even foolish one..."

I let out chuckle at that and did not even make any attempt to deny his words "What can I say? All big things come from foolish ones after all, right?" I asked back with grin and he laughed.

"Agree with you, my boy! Haru is your name, right? I think, I will get along with you quite well!" Tazuna laughed and I only chuckled at his laugh.

"Hey... Tazuna!

We turned and saw one of workers approaching us. Ah, so it was time for this scene. I saw Tazuna turned around and greet the man back "Hn? What is it, Giichi?."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking recently and... Can I stop working on the bridge?" Giichi said, his expression grim and I could see panic immediately engulfed Tazuna's expression.

"Why? This is so sudden! Not you too" Tazuna said panicking.

"Tazuna we've been close for a long time now... I want to help you to build the bridge... But if we continue this Gato will notice us and if you get killed, then what's the point?" Giichi said trying to prove his point. "Why don't we quit now... You know, building the bridge." He continued.

I stared at Tazuna, who now looking down with impassive look. I could tell the man was very conflicted now between his job and his family life.

"I can't do that... This bridge is our bridge... This is the bridge we started building together believing it will bring resources into our poor country" Tazuna said while looking down with sadness.

"But if we lose our lives..!" Giichi started saying, but Tazuna cut him.

"It's already noon, let's stop for today, Giichi you don't have to come tomorrow" Tazuna said turning his back on him. As I saw Tazuna leaving, I was about to follow him but not before giving one last glance at Giichi, who was looking down.

"If you all only live in fear, then you all are better die since only suffering you will experience. Death is better than suffer for your whole life." I stated to Giichi, who looked at me with shock when I said that. I immediately turned around before he could reply and followed Tazuna.

As we began to walk, Tazuna told me that we will buy vegetables in market for our food later. I only nodded and followed him.

I know this World is cruel... My previous World is also cruel no matter how peaceful it looks like. I had seen how woman sold into slavery from TV and I had seen how people destroy each other with drugs.

But by God... What I saw in Wave is clearly on another level... It may be because I see them directly like this, however, it clearly made me horrified.

You won't believe how bad the situation is. The manga and anime actually are only light version of it! You remember in anime there was a guy, who was wearing a sign saying "Will Take Any Job"?

It was not only one... But there were many of them... A group perhaps... And by God they are skinny like skeletons. It as if they had not ate for a week if possible! They all are barely able to stand now! I even saw their legs shaking like hell, but they stay awake just to make sure they look strong and there will be someone, who will take them for a job!

And there was even woman, she was not beauty and not even healthy, but, at least, she had quite a figure. She was skinny and pale like someone, who is sick, and wore sign "Will do anything for a good payment"! And not just one! There were a few of them!

By Gods... This is... This is...

"I don't know what to say to describe this..." I murmured with shock evident on my face.

"Sad, isn't it?" Tazuna said bitterly "This is what happened to our country..." He chuckled without humour in his voice "Ah, here we are..."

The store doesn't look like a normal store, it doesn't look like a store actually, fruit and vegetable shelves were almost empty. Heck! Many of them even were not proper to eat anymore or already rotten! And the ones that were in good condition were quadruple times more expensive than the ones in Konoha!

This is... This is... God, the anime and manga were clearly only sugar versions of it. I don't know either if it was coincidence Kishimoto wrote about Naruto or if he had vision or kind of dream about this World but...

The World he drew and wrote in manga... Is nothing compared to this...

My eyes then caught movement to my back and my hand blurred. I grabbed the hand of one man, who was sneaking behind me and I glared at him.

"As much I pity you, but you better not steal from me." I said coldly with my eyes flashed red for a moment to intimidate him.

The guy's eyes widened before he nodded and ran out of the store. I only stared at him with impassive look, Tazuna on my side only stared at me.

"By Rikudō Sennin... What happened in here?" I muttered.

"It's been like this since Gato came... All adults lost hope... That's why we need the bridge... A symbol of courage we need for the people to lose their fear and regain the desire to stand up for themselves." Tazuna said looking down "If that bridge... If that bridge can be completed, the land will return to that time... The people will return how it used to be."

I only stood in silence while staring at him. Before I was able to open my mouth, I felt another presence near me and I snapped my head and saw some... Small girl... A girl around five years, perhaps.

She extended her hand in begging manner and I stared at her with impassive look.

I crossed my fingers and muttered the technique that Naruto always use and with "poof " two clones popped on my side, surprising the little girl and Tazuna.

I handed the two clones two small scrolls. In those scrolls is emergency food that I always bring and I brought extra for this mission since I knew it will be needed.

Let me tell you a little about storage scroll. Fuinjutsu is very complicated, there are limitations for each of them, and storage scroll is expensive seeing they are quite effective, that's why Shinobi normally carry backpack if they only go for C rank mission, they don't want to waste money, after all. The bigger thing the scroll could store, the more expensive it is.

"What is your name, little girl?" I kindly asked her.

"My name Ayane, Onii-chan..." She answered and I nodded. I made gesture for her to lean to me and she did.

"These two will give you food, just bring them to your friends. But don't tell adults since there will be bad adults that are going to take the food from you if you tell them, okay?" I whispered.

"Really?!" Ayane asked with eager and happiness "These two will-"

"Yes, I swear on my name... Now, why don't you go with them?" I asked as I gestured to the clones on my side.

"Yaaay! Onii-chan number 1 and Onii-chan number 2! Come with me!"

As I saw my clones being pulled by a four year old girl, I couldn't help but smile at the sight. What? I'm not good guy and also not bad guy, but children are something else. They are innocent by standard no matter how they were born, they are the purest form of living beings that even surpasses angel in my opinion.

"What are you doing?" Tazuna asked on my side.

"I will tell the details later, Tazuna-san, there are too many people here." I replied and he nodded.

"Well, I already bought the vegetables. Let's go home..." He said with smile and I nodded before following him.

As we began to walk, I kept seeing people, who were abandoned and had very bad condition. It was almost like a beggars that come from Papua Island or abandoned Africa, seriously, except they were mixed between white skin and black one.

"Tazuna-san... You said the people here used to happy and cheerful... Gato took it, right?" I asked

"Indeed he has... He took everything..." Tazuna said grimly.

"I see... He killed the Hero of this village, eh?"

Tazuna quickly snapped his head to me, his eyes widened with shock and he had a surprised expression.

"You know about Kaiza?" He asked in shock.

"Kaiza? So he is the Hero of this village..." I mused aloud "And, no I don't know about him, Tazuna-san. I just made conclusion based on observation. There is no way Gato could take down the moral of whole village with ease, unless he cut down the source of the courage and that source of courage must be someone, who is important, someone, who is like Hero here. And by doing that he cut down everyone's moral and courage, I just made a guess and it seems I'm right... Gato must have executed Kaiza-san in front of everyone to show how helpless their Hero is, right?"

Tazuna stared at me as if I just grew second head, six extra arms, two tails and extra eight legs. Okay, that maybe too much, but you got the point anyway.

"Kid... Your Sensei said you are sharp and I admit that. However, right now, you are not just sharp, but you are on another level to the point you scare the hell out of me." He said in slightly frightened tone and I chuckle sheepishly.

"Sorry, Tazuna-san, but that's what I am. Sometime I also scare myself." I replied with grin and he only rolled his eyes "Oh, and, Tazuna-san, how many workers you need so you can finish the bridge in week?"

"Eh? Hmm... Maybe about hundred... Yep! A hundred will make us finish the bridge!"

"Hmmm... Then you are lucky person, Tazuna-san, I know someone, who could help you to get hundred people in instant!"

* * *

That night.

Dinner was quite... Very quiet, in fact...

Not just because everyone glanced at the figure, who sat in corner of the room with wary look. It is not often for the person to be in a bad mood, after all.

And when he does, Sasuke and Naruto know they must stay away from the person, if they don't want get their ass kicked. And for once they did not start their bickering, because if the person, who was brooding now, will find it was annoying, there will be hell to pay.

It was miracle that the person did not ask to spar with them to throw his temper already, seeing it is what he does normally.

Of course, everyone, who doesn't know about that, only glanced at Haru, who was brooding while eating his food. His face was impassive and calm, but there aura that spoke 'Don't fuck with me or else… it's really important.'

Eventually, it was Tazuna, who broke the tension as he started to laugh lightly.

"Wow, this is fun... It's been a long time since we ate with so many people." Tazuna said scratching his head sheepishly.

"Seeing this village condition, I'm not surprised..." Haru whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, but what made them surprise is his cold and icy tone.

...

...

...

...

"Tazuna-san what happened during the guard of bridge?" Yakumo whispered to Tazuna, so Haru would not hear it.

"Nothing! Sure, the village condition is bad, but he did not appear to be upset so much!" Tazuna whispered back as he was slightly frightened at Haru's mood.

"Well, something must have happened since he is clearly in a bad mood like this!"

As the two began whispering to each other, Kakashi, Sakura and Genma stared at Haru with curious look while Naruto and Sasuke only ate in polite manner and tried their best to not catch Haru's attention.

It was Sakura, who broke the tension.

"Hey, why do you have a torn picture on the wall?" Sakura asked as she stood and looked at the picture, trying to break the tension Haru created "Inari was staring at this during the dinner, it seems like someone purposely removed the person that was in the picture."

Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari looked down silently, their bodies also stiffened, something that everyone noticed as they were now staring at them including Haru.

"He's my husband..." Tsunami said quietly.

"And... The man called the Hero of the land of waves" Tazuna added in grim tone as he seemed to be lost in thoughts.

Inari lowered his head and slammed his palm on the table, before standing up and walking out of the room.

"Inari? Where are you going?" Tsunami asked.

Inari ignored her and slammed the door shut.

"Inari!" Tsunami said worriedly "Father, I told you not to talk about that man in front of Inari." She said angrily before stomping out.

"What's wrong with Inari?" Sakura asked feeling bad for making Inari sad again.

"There seems to be a kind of explanation" Kakashi said.

"Inari had a father not related by blood... They were very close, like a real father and son... Inari would laugh a lot back then... But... But Inari changed... Since the incident with his father" Tazuna said solemnly "The word 'courage' had been stolen from the people of this land... And from Inari... Ever since that day... Because of that incident..."

"The death of the Hero..." Haru muttered as he also leaned forward and seemed interested, sure, he already knows the story, but hey! Hearing it directly is something else 'Gato... One way or another, your death won't be swift like in Cannon... Mark my words...'

* * *

**Yep! The first chapter before battle begin is out!**

**Sorry if you all expect there will be small battle but sadly no, it will be out in next chapter**

**There brief conversation about Kakashi and Genma too in here about Haru and Kakashi feeling about him. It maybe little exaggerated but Kakashi intuition is quite something, it was showed in Cannon ever since beginning after all and in Last there joke about it where someone glad Kakashi intuition for once is about great thing right**

**As for Wave condition, it just reality version of what happen in there. I think Wave condition actually more worse since clearly Shinobi World is more harsher than what everyone think**

**And what make Haru so angry to Gato?! What he see actually?! Ah that will be revealed later in battle!**

**Not much about this chapter, however next will be meeting with Haku and small sparring season between Backup Team and Team 7!**

**Stay tune to find out more! And please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	14. Training before Battle! Pt 2

**This chapter have been edited by Froua******de**! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 13. Training before Battle! Pt. 2**

* * *

It has been just two days ever since we arrived in the Wave...

Last night Tazuna had told everyone about what happened to Kaiza. Actually, I already knew it, but hearing it directly is still something.

Though, it also made me wish to kill Gato in more painful way.

Seriously, I don't know, if that man is aware of what he caused to the villagers in this country or not. But, if he is aware, then his death will be twice as painful.

I'm not a good guy, I always say that and I am also not a bad guy. I'm just simply a man, who walks on grey path though it is kinda strides to dark, a little. And as a man, who walks on grey path, I can show kindness and compassion, if it is necessary.

What I have seen yesterday is clearly something that made my blood boil... I never thought Gato goons will step that low... Even Orochimaru won't do such thing!

And while those bandits did their dirty work, Gato was sleeping peacefully and laughing in his estate.

His death will be very painful...

Currently, I was hiding behind a tree few meters away from Naruto, who was sleeping under the tree. It was just like in Cannon, after Tazuna told the story about Kaiza, Naruto became inspired and resumed his training.

Although he did not try to walk on water, not at night, he would get cold if he did that and, thankfully, he is aware of that. So, he tried to copy me by sticking leaves to multiple parts of his body and doing tree walking.

It was then I sensed someone is coming, I tried my best to hide myself on top of the tree on which I currently stood. If my prediction is true, then...

Soon, from the direction I sensed, a figure came out and I immediately recognized the person.

And when I saw the person I had to repress the blush that threatened to come out on my face. Dear God, Naruto not did exaggerate when he said Haku is pretty, that man or woman really is!

Seeing it directly now is different from watching the anime. Even Hinata, Sakura and everyone are prettier when meeting them directly rather than watching the anime.

For example, Ino is what you can say someone from west. Her pale skin and pale blonde hair, add her quite developed figure is enough to think she may be American

Sakura, meanwhile, is also not ugly, no wonder Naruto and Rock Lee fell on her. Her skin is pale milky, combined with her pink hair and green eyes, she is quite a beauty. And, I actually prefer her with short hair rather than long.

Hinata, that girl is a perfect Asian, save for her lavender-pale eyes. Her skin is pale milky like Japanese and her face frame also makes her look beautiful, add the fact she is the healthiest girl among Rookie 9, I could say-

Ah, sorry, sorry I'm ranting again. Anyway, like I said. Haku is pretty, he... Or she even prettier than girls in Konoha, I guess.

Man... And to think this beautiful person could possess a dick... That plainly sucks...

Then I saw Haku finally spotted Naruto, he/she began to approach him to get a better sight. I, who was watching behind the tree not far from my position, only stared with stoic face as Haku looked down at Naruto's unconscious form. I couldn't see his/her expression, but slowly he/she lifted his/her hand and was about to touch Naruto, the hand went to neck's direction and...

Went down to shoulder...

"Hey, wake up. You will get cold if you sleep here..."

Instead choking or breaking his neck, Haku shook Naruto's shoulder gently and spoke softly as if parent trying to awake their child rather than enemy, who is going to fight him next week.

I then saw Naruto awaken and soon both of them began their conversation. Naruto was helping to gather the herbs and enjoying his talk with Haku.

It was then when I heard Haku's talk to Naruto about precious person I decided to make appearance. I let them talk alone because Haku is the one, who is going to teach Naruto important lesson.

"Woah, here I was about to call you for breakfast! Never thought I will find you dating pretty girl, Naruto!" I exclaimed with faked gasp.

I clearly took amusement when I saw both of them jumped in surprise, oh yeah, I'm sure now I really am sadist, I guess, even if I was closet one.

"H-Haru!" Naruto called me with shock and there blush adorned his face "I-It's not like that! I-It's not like what you think!" He yelled while waving his hands in frantic manner.

Haku, meanwhile, also showed surprised look and I really mean it. He/she must be very surprised, without a doubt, he/she did not sense me coming, and it's thanks to stealth training with Naruto when he did his pranks.

"Don't be shy, I know you at that age. Taking a girl on date is normal thing..." I continued to tease while grinning and taking more amusement at the blond incoherent sputter of protest "Hello, miss! My name is Haru, thanks for taking care for Naruto here!" I said with a grin.

"Haru... My name is Haku..." Haku smiled back at me "I didn't do anything, Naruto-san here is the one, who helped me."

"Really? Well, that was to be expected from him. Naruto always likes to help random people!" I replied with laugh and Naruto only blushed "So, what are you doing here, miss?"

"I'm here to gather herbs, it to cure someone, who is sick at my place." Haku answered.

"Someone is sick? I see..." I nodded a bit "Well, then let me help you." I also began to crouch and was about to help.

"I do not think it is necessary, I already have them all..." Haku told me as he/she showed his/her bag, revealing it was full of herbs he/she gathered with Naruto.

"Ah, that's too bad... Well if you say so, then... Oh, by the way, it appears that I take lessons in medical nin, want me to check your friend?" I asked politely.

"Haru is right! He can use medical Ninjutsu! He can heal your friend!" Naruto added with big grin.

I could see Haku now seemed quite nervous, there was slight sweat on his/her forehead, but the expression on his/her face was still calm "Oh no, you do not need to do that. I don't want to be burden for you."

"Nonsense! Miss, I may only know a little, but I can perform medical Ninjutsu quite well. So, let me help you!" I insisted with grin, inwardly I took amusement of Haku being nervous and panicked. Man, I really became sadist now, hopefully, I'm not that much.

"No, no. Really, it not necessary, you must be going to be busy later. I don't want to disturb you..."

Haku tried his/her best to reason with us and it was clear he/she is going to lose the argument if this continues. So, I decided to take pity and end it in here.

"Oh, well, if you don't want it, then, I guess, I can't force you..." I said with small sigh, Naruto on my side also appeared to be quite deflated "Well then, just give my regards to your friend, okay?"

Haku only nodded with a smile as he/she stood up "I will and... I guess this is goodbye..."

"Yeah! See you later Nee-san!" Naruto called happily.

"See you all later..." He/she replied before turning around and began to walk away "Ah, however, I'm a boy..."

It was this moment I saw Naruto's face turned to flabbergast face, where his eyes opened wide in shock and his jaw hang open.

I only blinked before my face became serious, okay, it's time to do this! Prepare yourself, Haru! "Haku-san!" I called and he/she turned to me "Sorry, for a moment, Haku-san." I said in polite manner and Haku blinked.

I suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Haku. Before everyone could do anything, my hand blurred and quickly went through his/her cloth and... Sneaked in to her chest...

...

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...

...

...

...

Cue small grope to make sure it was real...

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...

Naruto flabbergasted face now turned to shock as he stared at me with blush, still in shocked state he stared at me with gawked face while Haku froze with pure shock expression and clearly not believing what just happened.

I pulled back my hands from the kimono and stared at the sky with the biggest shitty grin I ever had.

"SEE THAT KISHIMOTO?! HE'S A SHE! SHE! WOMAN! FEMALE! YOU GAY BASTARD! YOU TURN HER TO MAN! BUT NOW YOU SEE?! JUSTICE ALWAYS WINS! HE IN FACT IS-"

"PERVERT!"

SLAAAAP!

And with mighty yell and shriek, the super Haku delivered ultra-mega-hyper-super-enhanced chakra slap to the perverted beast called Haru, sending the man crashing through numerous trees.

"Haru!"

Even I was in dazed state I still recognized Naruto's worried voice and heard his tone that was filled with concern. Well, I do now know, but I am sure I crashed not only one tree.

And oh God! IT HURTS! Let me tell you, it hurts, bitch!

I groaned as I raised and Naruto on my side was holding me so I would not fall and to make sure I'm okay.

"Haru! Haru! How many fingers do you see?!"

I tried to focus my eyesight on his fingers, it was blurry for a moment before finally my vision back to normal.

"Four..."

Naruto blinked before he breathed out sigh of relieve, but his expression now morphed to annoyed one and he scowled.

"What the hell?! Why did you grope Haku, ttebayo?!" He demanded with disapproval in his voice.

I then turned and saw Haku is already gone, she probably left due to embarrassment or to how she exploded like that. Or she left due to anger...

"To make sure she is a woman... And guess what?! I'm right! Hell, yeah!" I yelled in triumph, ignoring the pain in my head. With a big grin I stared at the heavens "SEE THAT KISHIMOTO?! HAKU IS A WOMAN! HA! EAT THAT YOU SON OF BITCH!"

Naruto only stared at me like I just grew second head from my crotch "I think, your head is still damaged..." Naruto deadpanned.

* * *

Sometime later.

"Okay... For training today, we will have a little sparring between you four..." Genma stated as he stared at Sasuke, Yakumo, Naruto and Sakura.

"Sparring?" Naruto asked, quite eager as he imagined there will be fight.

"Yep. Learning chakra control is important, but your individual ability is important too. I want to gauge your level." Genma replied with calm look and all Genins gave him a nod of understanding "Naruto, you still can fight, right?"

"Of course, I am! Spamming those clones is easy! It doesn't even bother me!" Naruto declared with goofy grin.

This morning after they went back to Tazuna's home, Haru was ordered to guard Tazuna like usual. However, this time he made Naruto spam hundred of Kage Bunshin and made them follow him to help Tazuna's work.

Genma must admit, he was impressed at Naruto's chakra reserve. Normal Jonin only can spam dozens of clone perhaps, it takes Kage level Shinobi to spam hundred clones and not be exhausted after.

Well, he is Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi and also Uzumaki. That is to be expected though.

"Then let us begin. Sasuke, I want you to spar with Yakumo here." Genma said, which made Sasuke and Yakumo slightly surprised, but both of them nodded without protests.

As Yakumo and Sasuke stood at opposite sides of each other, the Kurama heiress couldn't help, but to notice there was a slight disdain in Sasuke's eyes.

"Do you have something to say?" She asked.

"I don't like you." Sasuke said in very obvious tone "What do you think Haru is? You can't just come and declare someone to become your fiancé." He stated coldly.

"What?! Haru-san is Yakumo-san's fiancé?!" Sakura gasped in shock from side.

"No, he's not." Naruto scowled too as he crossed his arms.

Truthfully, for Naruto and Sasuke, it is not like they were overprotective to Haru about his romance life. They just prefer Haru to be with Hinata. Both Haru and Hinata seem to enjoy each other presence on another level and they also look good together.

And they have a good reason to dislike Yakumo. Sasuke already gathered information about Kurama clan and noted the clan actually has fell from grace due to death of the previous clan head, leaving Yakumo as sole survivor of the main branch.

While true they pity her, but they do not like Yakumo being close to Haru. It was not hard to guess why she is close to him seeing her status as the last survivor and clan heiress. Haru is strong, someone, who was born with talent and strength like Haru is rare. If people find out about his true strength, no doubt, there will be people, who will want to use him.

In their eyes, Yakumo is one of those people. As the last member of main branch of Kurama clan, no doubt she will have to take husband in future and seeing Haru is very strong... Well, you can connect it by yourself.

"What I did is none of your business, Uchiha-san. Now, are we going to fight or make a conversation?" Yakumo asked in a stoic tone.

Sasuke only narrowed his eyes and grunted at her. Genma, who was seeing this, took it as a sign of the start of the battle.

"Alright, you can go all out. However, no crippling or intent to kill, remember, this is just to gauge your strength and our real enemy is still out there!" Genma said while staring at them "Then... Begin!"

As soon the signal was given, Sasuke drew out multiple shurikens and quickly threw them at Yakumo. The heiress of Kurama also pulled out shurikens and threw them to the direction of the attack, both projectiles clashed and cancelled each other before both combatants blurred.

CLAANG!

Sounds of kunai's clash appeared as Sasuke and Yakumo immediately went to each other just after they threw their shurikens. Engaged in deadlock for a few seconds, both of them jumped back after that and then immediately went to perform hand seals.

**"Katon! (Fire Release)"** Sasuke mouth slightly bulged before he cocked his head back and then leaned it forward **"Gōkakyu no Jutsu! (Great Fireball Technique)"**

Yakumo watched as Sasuke spew out 4M fireball to her direction. She continued to perform hand seals before finishing it **"Shinkirō (Mirage)"** She whispered.

As soon she did that, her body suddenly dissolved into pink leaves before it dissipated. The fireballs shoot through the leaves, burning them but clearly missing their target.

Sasuke, who was watching had wide eyes as he landed on the ground. H began to tilt his head and looking for Yakumo, thinking what technique was that? A special Shunshin?

'No... Kurama clan is specialized in Genjutsu... That means...' Sasuke immediately brought one hand up "Kai!" He yelled and he suddenly found the World around him shatter like a glass.

However, instead of the scenery of normal forest, he found himself in a different one. The trees around him were a lot bigger and the surroundings also showed it was a wild forest.

'What the! I'm pretty sure I did it right!' Sasuke thought with shock 'So, how did I end up here?!'

Suddenly, from the trees surrounding him, black humanoid figures raised like they were a part of it. They only had red glowing eyes and their appearance was pure black, each of them holding a kunai.

'So it's double layered Genjutsu at the same time. Tsk! Not bad, as expected from Kurama clan.' Sasuke grunted as he raised his hand and was about to cancel the Genjutsu. However, before he could cancel it, all the humanoid creatures rain him down with the kunais.

Sasuke immediately jumped out and dodged the rain of kunais. But all the creatures did not let him escape that easy, they threw multiple kunais again at him with intent to skewer him. Sasuke threw his own shurikens and repelled them all.

'They won't let me act, I don't want to take risk get stabbed. Who knows if the real Yakumo also throws her shurikens! To think I will use it this soon... Then again, my enemy is quite advanced in Genjutsu.' Sasuke thought with annoyance before his eyes flashed red "Kai!" He yelled and this time the World around him shattered once again, revealing the normal forest of Land of Wave.

He then noticed he had moved from where he stood before and now he was currently in middle of the forest, not far from his position was Yakumo, who stood on one of branches of a tree while performing hand seals.

"You are using Genjutsu on Uchiha? I don't know either if I should be laughing at your idiocy or at amusement for your attempt to make a joke." Sasuke said with a smirk as his Sharingan was spinning.

Yakumo in response merely scowled a bit before throwing multiple shurikens at Sasuke. The black haired boy only flipped and dodged the multiple attacks before grabbing kunai from his pouch, his eyes tracked the Kurama heiress then he sent chakra to his legs and gone in blurred motion.

Yakumo's eyes widened seeing Sasuke's speed. He was fast! She immediately did the same, and just in time to dodge strike from Sasuke. Both of them engaged in deadlock before they jumped away from each other, channelling chakra to their feet they moved with fast speed and became blur to civilian eyes.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

'Khu! I got pushed back!' Yakumo thought with annoyance as she clearly got hard time to match Sasuke 'This is bad, while I can match him in chakra control, but speed and physical aspects are-'

"Too slow!"

Yakumo's eyes widened when Sasuke appeared behind her and swung his kunai to strike. She raised her arm and blocked his forearm, however, Sasuke continued by throwing his kunai to her face. Yakumo immediately ducked, but Sasuke anticipated this as his leg floated and crashed at her face.

"Gugh!"

Yakumo grunted as she bounced on the ground two times and landed roughly on it being kicked by Sasuke. The black haired boy only flashed her smirk of triumph.

"I admit your skill in Genjutsu is not bad. But sadly, you are facing Uchiha, we are quite famous in Genjutsu too, you know." Sasuke stated with a smirk.

Yakumo only glared at him before rubbed her chin as there was blood which slightly dripped from her mouth. She immediately stood and made one handed seal "Don't think you won, Uchiha-san, you still haven't seen my best." Yakumo said coldly.

"Then humour me, Kurama-san." Sasuke challenged while making gesture with one hand.

Silence echoed as both combatants were staring at each other. Both fighters immediately went to their pouch and threw out shurikens to each other, however, this time Yakumo still continued.

**"Fūton : Reppushō (Wind Release : Gale Palm)"** She yelled as she clapped her hands together and the wind compressed before transformed into powerful gale.

The shurikens she launched got hit by the gale and it suddenly became faster and stronger as it was repelling all Sasuke's weapons.

The Uchiha showed surprised look before he jumped away while dodging the projectiles that struck the trees behind him and their power was strong enough to break them rather than stab trees like normal.

'Wind element? She has wind affinity? Well, then this is quite a surprise. Haru said wind affinity is rare in Konoha, only Naruto and that Asuma guy, who he knows about.' Sasuke thought with slight surprise before smirked 'But wind is weak against fire!' He performed hand seals before channelling chakra to his throat **"Katon: Hōsenka no (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire)-"** Sasuke stopped in middle of his technique when another Genjutsu hit him and he groaned in annoyance, quickly dispelling the Genjutsu, he was about to continue his technique…

…only to get blasted by burst of wind that hit him in stomach, knocking him few meters away as he crashed into tree. The Genjutsu that hit Sasuke only acted as decoy so Yakumo could perform wind technique again.

Yakumo slightly smirked having knocked the Uchiha down, she admits she felt quite satisfied with this. But the Uchiha did not lose that easy as he already stood now and was glaring at her.

However, before any fight could continue, Genma appeared in between them, having watching the battle ever since the beginning along with Naruto and Sakura. When Yakumo and Sasuke moved they also moved to follow them.

"That's enough, you two, I have seen what I need." Genma stated as he decided the fight is already enough. Both fighters kept glaring at each other and Genma sighed "Remember, the real enemy is out there, if you kill each other now we will be having a problem later." It obviously did not work as both fighters still were glaring at each other. Genma rubbed his temple before his eyes narrowed as he caught something "Eh? Haru? Why are you here?"

At that everyone snapped their attention to Genma's gaze. However, to their surprise, there was no Haru in there and it made them realize that Genma was lying to them -which made Sasuke and Yakumo glower at him-

Genma snickered at their reaction as he found it funny "Now, you two done glaring each other, why don't we continue? Sasuke, Yakumo go to the side since we will have Naruto and Sakura fighting."

* * *

Meanwhile with Haru.

Sweat poured down from my forehead, followed by heavy breath from my mouth. Fatigue was also very clear to me as I felt I was just like running around Konoha for 20 times.

However, despite the exhaustion I felt, I couldn't help, but to stare at the destruction in front of me with smirk of glee adorned on my face. Countless trees blasted away, the land itself was carved roughly. And, there was a giant crater on one of giant boulders, it was just like some giant beast punched it.

"Three times... That's my limit, eh..." I murmured as my Sharingan slowly turned off and gone back to black raven eyes.

Like I expected... For me, Rasengan takes less chakra than Chidori... I only can use Chidori for four times, but Rasengan is something else...

Despite I already can use multiple elemental Ninjutsu, the chakra it takes from me is still quite much. The reason why Chidori takes more a lot than Rasengan is because Chidori turns chakra to electricity, it knead the energy into lightning element.

Meanwhile, Rasengan is something else, it has pure and dense chakra. If you possess good chakra control the amount of chakra used to create it will be reduced.

I already trained to master them during one month and finally able to perform them well. Rather than Chidori, I found Rasengan easier. No doubt, due to my chakra control training, I already could perform first and second stage at one day... Completing the third stage took one week though and performing Chidori also took three weeks... Clearly, for me Chidori is harder since I have to knead chakra into element unlike Rasengan...

Still... Only three Chidori? It means my Chakra is still less than Kakashi. Kakashi is able to perform four **Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)**, not Chidori and it takes more chakra and requires advanced chakra control to be performed.

This is no good... I can't face monster like Akatsuki with this amount of powers... I know, I am very strong for someone at my age but... This is not enough...

I stared down at both my palms and noticed there were burn wounds on them. They were hurt, the burning effect from Chidori and the strain from channelling dense and powerful chakra is clearly visible. And damn God it hurts, I tell you, it fucking hurts! Especially Chidori! That one is more painful since I have to knead the chakra into lightning element!

I wonder what will happen if I knead the chakra into fire, eh? Well, I can find it out later, for now, I need to hide the wounds on my hands. Kakashi will recognize the wounds if he will see them since he is the creator of Chidori and also able to use Rasengan.

I took out small medical pack from my pouch, it was for first aid. I always carry it just in case before began to wrap my hands with the bandages.

Ah? You must be asking what happened to Tazuna? I left Kage Bunshin with him and there were hundreds of Naruto's clones that worked too. So it will be fine, besides I doubt Gato or Zabuza will attack now, seeing they currently do not have advantage.

The reinforcement Gato bring won't attack us until Zabuza's recovery, that was very clear since if they attack us by themselves without Zabuza it will be pretty risky.

I winced when felt the pain on my palms. Ouch, this will take some time to recover. I guess, I won't have training anymore with palms or hands until this arc end. That leaves only chakra control.

Oh well, I can live with that. I train in chakra control for my whole life, after all, there is nothing bad in training to improve your chakra control.

* * *

Few days later.

It had been few days ever since the training began and Backup Team arrived. The training between Team 7 and Backup Team could be said is already completed as they already mastered water walking.

They also learnt how to work together and tried to know each other better. Naruto seemed quite easy going and not that mad at Yakumo anymore, apparently, Naruto was able to see the determination behind Yakumo's eyes to become great ninja and restore her clan, something that he can understand since he always got looked down and he wishes to prove himself.

Sasuke, while still being cold, but he did not show any offensive intent to Yakumo anymore, he could tolerate her as a fellow survivor of their clan. Though, Yakumo has uncle, but she is still the only survivor from main branch of her clan.

Yakumo and Sakura also often talked, while the Kurama heiress was quite annoyed at the girl feminine features, due to not taking Kunoichi life as serious at first, however, Yakumo was glad to have another girl of her age to talk with, it reminded her that, despite her role as the sole survivor she is still a girl too and apparently Haru also supported this much to her pleasure.

Currently, we found all Ninja from Konoha sitting in the dining room at Tazuna's house. They all, save for Haru, appeared to be quite exhausted, it was because they all were training in team against Genma before.

"So how are your wounds, Haru?" Genma asked as he noticed the wounds appeared several days ago.

Haru turned to his teacher, he raised his hand that was not bandaged anymore and showed it still had slight bruise "Already healed. I may still feel slight pain, but it will be fine..."

"Hmm... As long it is not bother your performance then it's fine..." Genma stated with nod.

Naruto, who was staring at Haru's palm couldn't help but scowl, this scene seemed familiar. It took a moment before he realized that Haru's wounds were the same as the ones in the past.

"Were you training that technique again?" Naruto asked.

"Yep..." Haru admitted before he grinned "And guess what, Naruto? It's completed!"

"Really?! You completed it?!" Naruto asked with surprise before he also grinned "You have to show me!"

"Later, Naruto..." Haru winked at him and the blond slightly pouted.

"What technique?" Sasuke asked as he actually didn't know what Naruto and Haru were talking about. Kakashi seemed surprised as Sasuke didn't know as he gave slight glance at the Uchiha before turned to Haru with curious look too.

"It was technique that Haru tried to create one year ago!" Naruto said with big grin "And it was-"

"Maa, Naruto that's our little secret!" Haru stopped him immediately and Naruto only grinned sheepishly while muttering sorry.

"I want to see it too!" Sasuke demanded like some child, completed with the slight pout.

"It is a secret, Sasuke. I have to possess ace under my sleeves now, am I not?"

"Then why Naruto knows?"

"It because he caught me when I trained..." Haru simply answered and it was true, the blond caught him when he tried to train. Though it was on purpose, Haru needed proper reason why he knows Rasengan and he couldn't just show that technique without history and witnesses. That's why he let Naruto watch him.

"Fine then..." Sasuke grumbled as he was feeling quite upset.

Kakashi only narrowed his eye as he stared at Haru's palm. He was really curious what the genius boy tried to create, and there was something similar to his wound too, but he couldn't just place it.

Inari, who was watching the conversation between the ninja and seeing their worn out appearance couldn't help, but remember his father, how when he was still alive and how when he was about to die. It was too painful to remember and especially see the same scene.

Naruto, who noticed the stare from Inari, couldn't refrain from scowling, he didn't like the look Inari gave them.

"What?" He asked.

"Why do you keep trying!?" Inari yelled in exasperation. "Why do you guys even bother to try hard? No matter how hard you train, you are still no match to Gatō's men, no matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, when facing a strong opponent, the weak will only end up getting killed" Inari exploded." He said it with anger as he slammed his hand at the table.

It was clearly understandable when everyone showed surprised expression at the boy's outburst, save for Naruto, who stared at Inari with narrowed eyes and Haru, who only put impassive face.

"So?" Naruto asked without interest in his tone.

"Is that all you can say? You don't know anything about this country, yet you're being so nosy" Inari yelled as his face was burning with anger.

"Feh, I'm not like you." Naruto scoffed while turning around, losing interest in the boy's whining.

"I don't want to be like you!" Inari snapped "I'm different from you! You are carefree, you have no idea what it feels like to lose someone you love, you don't know what suffering means!" He finished with angry yell.

"INARI!" Tsunami immediately chided, shocked at her son's words.

Naruto appeared to be flinched before his eyes grow cold as he glared back to Inari "So, you think it's noble to treat everyone around you like they're guests at your pity party? People like you should cry forever, you brat! You crybaby!" He said with anger and Inari flinched, his tears now were rolling down from his eyes.

Sasuke, Haru, Genma and Kakashi didn't make any comment or tried to reprimand Naruto. They knew, if there is someone, who suffered in their childhood, it was clearly Naruto, seeing whenever he goes there will always be glares and jeer from people.

Yakumo stared at Naruto in surprise but didn't make any comment, during her time spent with Naruto she could see the loneliness in the boy's eyes for a moment and it reminded her of herself.

Sakura was going to comment since Naruto went too far. However, she held herself when she remembered she actually has no idea about Naruto's childhood. Her conversation with Sasuke and her crush treatment gave some opening to her eyes.

Inari then stood up and ran away, tears went down from his face and Naruto only grunted before he also stood and also walked away to the door.

"Where are you going?" Haru asked.

"Throwing temper." Naruto answer simply before he opened the door and left. Haru only sighed while rubbing his temple, he knew this will happen.

Kakashi was about to stand and follow Inari, however before he was able to Haru already stood up and went to Inari's direction.

* * *

It wasn't long before Haru found Inari sitting in docks alone, he then began to approach him and called.

"Hey..." Haru smiled and Inari turned to him "Maa, I'm not going to yell at you like Naruto so calm down." He said and Inari flinched at that 'Smooth move, Haru...' He thought sarcastically "Anyway, mind if I sit?"

Inari didn't give verbal reply, he only turned back and stared at the dark sky above. Taking it as sign of okay, Haru sat on his side.

"You know... Naruto is orphan... Along with me." He said, which made Inari surprised as he turned to him "We don't have parents. And when we took academy to be ninja, Naruto actually was really bad. For some reason, people in our village hate him, they look down on him. His life is not that easy, you know..." He stated in soft tone.

"Really?" Inari asked in disbelief and Haru only nodded "But how? He looks... He looks so happy and..."

"He was not always like that." Haru replied while also staring at the sky "Naruto used to cry... You can say I'm like his brother or best friend... He always cried and I was there when he did, but sometimes I'm not... It was then Naruto realized that crying won't change anything... So he stopped crying and started to fight... And when he started to fight, his life became better. You see, how he could be happy now, right?" At Inari nod, Haru smiled and turn to him with soft face "It because he keeps fighting, no matter how hard people insult him, he keeps fighting and the result is, he became a better person now... Inari, you must know that Naruto never meant bad, sure, it was quite harsh, but the reason why he said that because you remind him of himself. He also said what he said to you to himself thousands time already..." Haru paused and began to pat Inari head "He knew what it means to be strong even in young age, just like your father..." He finished with grin.

Inari only silent at that, he hung his head down, remembering how his father was when he was still alive and what he is going to do if he would be here with him.

Taking sign as a wish to leave alone, Haru stood up as he brushed his pants "I will be inside, don't be out too long, okay? You will catch cold..." He said before he turned to leave.

As he left and was entering the house, he saw there was Kakashi leaning on the wall and staring at him.

"You were listening." Haru stated and Kakashi's eye smiled.

"Yes, I am." He admitted "And I must say, Haru, you really know Naruto well... Then again, you spend your entire time with him, after all."

"Yeah... Taking care of Naruto and Sasuke can be troublesome sometimes." Haru chuckled.

"I can see that..." Kakashi replied in understanding tone as he also had a hard time to make sure Sasuke and Naruto do not go to each other throat every time "You are very mature for someone at your age..."

Haru fell silent for a moment before he turned and stared at window "I guess... It is not a secret after I got amnesia my behaviour changed... According to matron, I was troublesome kid, but when I lost my memories, I changed... I don't know why, but I know that time my mind was filled with nothing but pure curiosity... And since children did not interest me, save for Naruto... I guess, I started to copy adults and how they think..." Haru said with distant look as he stared outside of the house.

Kakashi stood silent as he heard what Haru said, his face was unreadable thanks to the mask that covered him "Do you ever regret what you became now?"

"No..." Haru said immediately "Not once I regret what happened to me... And I will never regret it..." He finished firmly and Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

'I guess he is not a bad person seeing he's kind and understanding like this. It is rare to see prodigy that is already aware how people should live, not becoming arrogant and cocky and only change when it is too late.' Kakashi thought with slight amusement.

* * *

Next day

'As I expected...' Haru thought as he and everyone stood in front of Tazuna's house, save for Naruto, who was still exhausted and sleeping.

"Well... I guess, we will leave Naruto, he exhausted himself, after all." Kakashi remarked.

"But what about you? Will you be okay?" Tsunami asked in concern and Kakashi's only eye smiled.

"Maa, do I still look like sick? I'm fine, Tsunami-san, not need to worry." Kakashi said "Well then, let's go everyone."

'This is it...' Haru thought as he saw the group began to move and he followed them 'Time to battle... Whom Gato is going to send after us?' Haru knew Gato won't be stupid, he will command the two samurai to kidnap Tsunami as assurance. But he couldn't help to feel there will be more... If he was on Gato's place...

It was almost fifteen minutes they began to walk to the bridge and Haru noted he will have to act for safety measure "Excuse me, I will need to go to bush for a moment." He said sheepishly and the group paused.

"You didn't throw it in the morning?" Genma asked with narrowed eyes, knowing what Haru wants to do.

"I just want to let it out again, okay? Dunno why though, just one minute!" He said before he went to the bush and gone. As he got out from everyone's view he began to cross his fingers 'Just in case...' He thought before a small poof appeared, and clone of him formed "Go with them..." He said and the clone nodded before both of them went to different route with the original gone back to Tazuna house direction.

As Haru and his clone separated, the original Haru jumped through the trees with full speed to go back to Tazuna's house. There was a chance the ninja reinforcement will go with Gato's samurai rather than waiting on the bridge, just to make sure the samurai success to kidnap Tsunami.

And true, there is a chance the ninja reinforcement actually went with Zabuza. However, if the ninja reinforcement came to Tsunami's place then it will be more dangerous than the latter.

As he walked through a tree, his eyesight caught a corpse of pig killed by numerous cuts. He narrowed his eyes as he jumped down and observed the pig.

'The cuts are still fresh... They just passed through minutes ago...' He thought as he finished checking the pig. He then stood again before started jumping to Tazuna's house.

As he was running and jumping through the trees, he saw the familiar blond come to his direction.

"Eh? Haru? Why are you here? Did you not go with Kakashi-sensei and everyone?" Naruto asked with surprise.

"I don't have time to explain, follow me, Naruto. We are going back to Tazuna's house, someone is after them." Haru said with stern look and Naruto's eyes widened before he nodded.

"Right!" Naruto responded immediately.

* * *

**Well, what you say for this chapter?**

**This chapter contain training of everyone. Haru also train to master Rasengan and Chidori and he master them during one month. Don't give me that look, you all know it was logical he able to do that**

**He already knew and understand the concept of the technique and how to perform it. He just need to did it by himself. Sasuke who weaker than him before Final Chunin Exam master Chidori in one month, Haru of course take it less time than him**

**However he won't use those two technique often, it not his main weapon after all so not need to worry.**

**And I actually confused what Haru second affinity should be? True he can use multiple Ninjutsu but I need two main affinity for him, fire is one and what the second? Could you all give your opinion?**

**Sasuke and Yakumo spar, hope you two like it. They was equal for now, true Sasuke should win he have bigger advantage after all but so do Yakumo. She possess higher chakra control and also quite talented in Genjutsu, it give her advantage**

**But if the fight continue the result will be unknown since Yakumo could use her bloodline actually and it will be very dangerous for Sasuke**

**And yes! Haku is woman! I actually tempted to turn him to boy but when I see his face again I just... Can't... He FUCKING TOO PRETTY DAMNIT!**

**Next chapter will be battle of this arc! Finally! And who the mysterious ninja that Gato rent?! Try to make guess! Hahahaa!**

**Stay tune to see the battle! Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! **

**XD**


	15. Battle in Wave! Pt 1

**This chapter have been edited by Froua******de**! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 14. Battle in the Wave!** **Pt. 1**

* * *

Inari only could stare with horror as he saw the three people that work for Gato taking away his mother.

It was just after Naruto left. Probably about five minutes, the three people barged in and decided to take his mother away. He only froze in fear when that man approached him, probably tried to kill him.

However his mother sacrificed herself so he went untouched by them.

He can't do anything... Because he is afraid... Because is he weak... And he couldn't do anything.

'Mom... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm a weak kid... I couldn't protect you.' He thought while crying as he stared at his mother dragged away.

_**"So, you think it's noble to treat everyone around you like they're guests at your pity party? People like you should cry forever, you brat! You crybaby!"**_

Suddenly, Naruto's words echoed in his head as he recalled what the blond said last night and couldn't help but to feel pain in his heart.

_**"It because he keeps fighting, no matter how hard people insult him he keeps fighting and as the result he became better person now... Inari, you must know that Naruto never meant bad, sure, it was quite harsh but the reason why he said that because you reminded him of himself. And he also said what he said to you to himself for thousands times already..." Haru paused and began to pat Inari's head "He knew what it means to be strong even in young age, just like your father..."**_

_**"If something is truly precious to you... Even if you lose your life... With these two arms... You must protect it."**_

Inari wiped his tears using his sleeves 'They all are so incredible... So cool... So strong' His fist tightened as he could feel bravery being born inside him 'Will I... Will I also become strong... Dad?' He asked to himself and determination started to fill his eyes.

Without any doubt or fear now, he ran straight out from his house. In there he saw the kidnappers are still there and he yelled.

"WAIT!"

"Huh?" Zouri and Waraji, Gato's private samurai turned to him with surprise. The ninja behind them only narrowed his eyes.

"L-Let my mother go!" Inari demanded before he gritted his teeth and he let out battle cry while running to them with intent to free his mother. He won't become a coward! Not anymore! Not this time!

"Annoying..." Waraji sighed.

"Cut him!" Zouri ordered and Waraji grinned in pleasure.

"With pleasure!" Waraji said with glee as he touched hilt of his sword.

Tsunami, who was hearing this had horrified look on her face, she couldn't stand and see one of her precious people killed! Not anymore! Kaiza is already enough!

"INARI! DON'T YOU TWO-"

A single chop to her neck from the ninja shut Tsunami down. The ninja merely scoffed as he turned to Gato's goons "Deal with him..."

Waraji and Zouri grinned before they moved their sword and ran, their swords unsheathed and…

SLASH! SLASH!

The sliced body, however, turned out to be a log and the ninja's eyes widened seeing this. He immediately sensed numerous shurikens and kunais launched to him and he used Shunshin to dodge the attack.

"What the-!?"

**"Kawarimi no Jutsu? (Substitution Technique)"**

The three people that Gato hired turned and saw Naruto standing not far from them with Inari on his shoulder while Haru on his side was carrying unconscious Tsunami in bridal style.

"Sorry for being late." Naruto said with grin "But hero's usually shows up at the last second."

"Naruto..." Inari called with surprise and awe, there was gratitude in his eyes.

"Great job, Inari... Thanks to you distracting them, Haru and I were able to save your mom" Naruto said grinning to Inari.

"Naruto, go carry Inari and Tsunami-san with you. Afterwards, go to the bridge immediately." Haru ordered as he stared at the ninja Gato hired. He knew this man, and he actually was quite dangerous. Naruto on current level won't be able to beat him, even if he would work together with Sasuke it still won't be enough.

"Eh?" Naruto asked with surprise.

"If there is attack here, then the bridge will need your help more than I."

"B-But what about you?"

"Naruto..." Haru turned to him and grinned "Who do you think you are talking to? I'm hundred times stronger than you!" He declared with smirk and Naruto blinked.

"Why you! I will kick your ass one day! Just wait, ttebayo!" Naruto declared back "I will wait for you on the bridge! Come there quickly!" He said before carrying Inari and Tsunami with him.

"Hey! Wait, you can't!-"

Whatever Zouri was trying to say immediately cut off as Haru appeared in front of him and smashed his face with strong punch, sending the thug crash into tree and not just through one, but through many.

"Zouri! Why you-"

Waraji moved his sword and raised it to struck Haru, but the boy was already prepared. Swiftly his leg blurred and kicked away the sword and continued by delivering spinning heel kick on Waraji's head and made the other thug meet the same fate as his friend.

Haru adjusted himself before turning to ninja that Gato hired. The ninja appeared to have amused face while twirling umbrella in his hand.

"Hmm, not bad. But again, those two are only trash. They couldn't even put a good fight, a normal Genin should be able to disable them." He said with a smirk.

"Aoi Rokushō, Missing nin from Konohagakure and the one responsible for stealing Raijin no Ken." Haru stated as he stared at the Jonin from Amegakure, inwardly he couldn't help but grin at the luck he got. To think he will meet this man, he will kill him and take Raijin! "Konoha will be very happy when I present your head back." He said coldly and his face was cold outside, but if someone could see it was clearly there was mirth in his eyes.

"Oh, a Genin who knows me, eh? Well, let's see which head shall be brought back to Konoha." Aoi sneered with a smirk.

* * *

Meanwhile on the bridge, earlier with Haru's clone.

It was as Haru expected, when they arrived, there were countless people that lying on the ground. All of them were workers that were building the bridge, they were not dead, but they clearly were attacked. There were multiple cut wounds, but that's all.

"Wha-what is this?" Tazuna asked while staring at the view in front of him with a shocked expression. All ninjas seeing this also got alert and extended their sense and awareness. Tazuna then walked to one of the workers and asked him what happened.

"M-Monster..."

That was the only thing he muttered before he passed out due to pain.

It was then the mist around them suddenly became thicker, seeing this everyone gathered together and covered all sides of Tazuna's position.

"This is..." Sakura muttered.

**"Kirigakure no Jutsu... (Hidden in the Mist Technique)."** Kakashi said grimly as he recognized the technique from his previous battle.

"Well, well... We met again, Kakashi..." Zabuza voice echoed in the mist "And you brought reinforcements with you... Two extra brats? And... Ah, I think I am familiar with that one... Genma Shiranui, one of Yondaime Hokage guard platoon. You really brought some reinforcement with you, eh?"

All Genin, who didn't know about Genma turned to him with surprise, their faces morphed to awe at the Tokubetsu Jonin, who only put calm face.

'Genma-sensei is Yondaime-sama private guard platoon?' Sakura thought in awe.

'Well... As expected from Haru's teacher. Hokage-sama clearly did not put him with weakling.' Sasuke thought with grunt of understanding inwardly as he actually knew Haru is strong and can surpass most Chunin or Tokubetsu Jonin in Konoha already 'And there is Yakumo too, she is clearly not your normal Genin. Her Genjutsu can even challenge Tokubetsu Jonin, I only can handle it thanks to Sharingan. Someone like Naruto, who is not good in Genjutsu obviously will lose against her.' He added in his mind as he glanced at Yakumo.

"Well, I'm not that idiot, Zabuza..." Kakashi plainly replied.

"Hahaha, then this will be more interesting." Zabuza chuckled before he paused and slight killing intent filled the area "Aren't you agree?"

As soon he said that, six water clones of Zabuza immediately emerged from the mist, surrounding the whole groups making everyone tensed as their battle stance tightened.

"**Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone)**, eh..." Haru murmured "Can I be the opening, everyone?" He asked with smirk and Genma give him smirk back.

"Go on..." Genma said with amusement.

And with that Haru immediately was gone as if he was never there. All Zabuza water clones, who seeing this had wide eyes, but before they could do anything or even move they all got cut down.

Soon Haru reappeared on his original position with two kunais in his hands, he smirked slightly, "Yakumo!" He barked.

"**Fūton : Daitoppa! (Wind Release : Great Breakthrough!)**" Yakumo yelled as she finished her hand seals and summoned gale of wind.

The wind appeared and immediately blew away the mist that surrounded them, revealing Zabuza, Haku and Demon Brothers.

"Well, well. It seems the other two brats are also not as weak as they look..." Zabuza remarked as he stared at Konoha group "And where is the blond one?"

"That would be telling, right?" Kakashi shot back 'So that man is really Zabuza's ally...' Kakashi thought "Wearing mask like that... Who does he think he is!"

'You are the one to talk, you are also wearing mask every time!' Everyone from Konoha though in deadpan tone in their minds.

"Why don't we cut the chit chat and move to the fun part?" Zabuza asked with glee as his hand moved to hilt of Kubikiribōchō.

"I will take that, masked man." Sasuke said, "Wearing mask and tricking us. I don't like people like that..." He stated as he stepped forward.

"Be careful Sasuke... He is good..." Kakashi warned his student, but Sasuke merely smirked, thinking that as challenge.

"So do I..." He stated.

Gozu and Meizu who seeing Sasuke had their blood boil. They still remembered the humiliation they went through during their first encounter.

"Allow us to fight him, we will-"

Suddenly, a sound of projectile launched appeared and soared to them. Gozu raised his gauntlet and blocked the incoming senbon, he turned to see smirking Genma.

"Picking kid? Really? For someone listed in Bingo Book, you are clearly disappointing, try to fight someone of your own size." Genma taunted making the Demon Brothers seething "Yakumo, support me from distance and only attack if there is opening." Genma whispered.

"Hai..." Yakumo nodded as she moved aside her teacher.

"And Haru, you-"

"Err... Sorry, Sensei, but I'm only Shadow Clone..." Haru said meekly making everyone turn to him in shock.

"What?!" Genma barked "But where is the real you?!"

"Helping Naruto to deal with the ninja reinforcement that is trying to kidnap Tsunmai-san and Inari." Haru stated much to everyone's surprise again "The original thinks there is a big chance Gato will be after them. Think about it, having hostage will make things smoother rather than fight, right?"

Zabuza, hearing Haru, let out chuckle while staring at him "You have a smart one in your team..." He stated.

Genma meanwhile stared at Haru with unreadable look, he knew how Haru capable is, but still… "While I agree, but we will have to talk about asking permission and obeying orders after this." He stated and Haru only chuckled sheepishly "Dispel yourself so the original will get some of his chakra back, he will probably need it. I can handle the situation here..."

"Sorry, Sensei..." Haru apologized before he exploded in white smoke.

With that, the tension resumed as the group of Konoha glaring to group of missing nin, who gladly returned the glare back with their own.

"Sakura, take care of Tazuna while we fight..." Kakashi ordered.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said as she closed herself to Tazuna while holding kunai "Don't get too far away from me, Tazuna-san..." She murmured.

"O-Okay!"

"Are you two going to use that?" Zabuza asked Demon Brothers, who stiffened, but they nodded for moment, the Demon of Kirigakure narrowed his eyes "Fine, but make sure you two won't hit us." He said and both Demon Brothers nodded.

"They seem to want to pick difference place. So what will you say, Kakashi?" Genma asked.

"Go on, but not too far from us." Kakashi answered with slight nod and Genma nodded back.

"Come on, Yakumo."

"Hai Sensei!"

Genma and Yakumo immediately gone in blur, the Demon Brothers seeing them also gone in Shunshin, following their enemies.

"Well... Everyone picked their enemy..." Zabuza said aloud "Let's the party began!" He shouted as he dashed with Haku following behind him.

"Here they come! Stand back Sakura, Tazuna-san!" Kakashi barked as he pulled out kunai.

The battle in Wave began!

* * *

Haru flipped and dodged barrage of senbons that Aoi launched from his umbrella. The boy dashed before he paused in his track and just in time to avoid another barrage of senbons. He raised kunai and jumped back while deflecting most senbons that targeted him.

While Aoi's skills were actually only comparable to Chunin, he carried dangerous weapons such as Umbrella that hid poison senbons and also Raijin no Ken, those two covered his weakness.

He was very confident against Aoi, but not against the poison or Raijin no Ken. The sword is even stronger than Rasengan and Chidori after all.

"What's up, little Genin? Didn't you say you are going to take my head?" Aoi sneered as he launched another barrage of senbons.

Haru said nothing as he ran and ducked under the assault. His hands blurred, performing hand seals before he clapped them together.

**"Fūton : Reppushō (Wind Release : Gale Palm)"** Haru launched a small gale of winds to Aoi's direction, repelling all the senbons that Aoi launched at him.

The Amegakure Jonin seeing this jumped and dodged the gale of wind that tried to attack him. He landed on ground before moving his gaze and saw Haru quickly approaching him while having another hand seals already performed and his mouth was slightly bulged.

**"Katon : Endan! (Fire Release : Flame Bullet!)"**

A 4M size fireball came out from Haru's mouth and launched to Aoi. The Amegakure Jonin eyes widened at the sight of the flames, and it engulf him before he was able to do anything.

Haru stared at the flames that engulfed Aoi with stoic look. However, his eyes widened when he saw the burning body revealed to be a log, he turned above just in time to see barrage of senbons rain down at him.

"Gugh!" Haru grunted in pain as the countless senbons pierced his body, legs, hands, shoulders, thighs and other body parts. He slowly fell to his knee as blood slipped out from his mouth.

"It's over..." Aoi stated as he grabbed back his umbrella that soared to sky "Those senbons are filled with poisons, you will experience slow and very painful death." He said with sadist smirk as he stared down at Haru.

"Hmph! T-This is n-nothing!" Haru grunted as he forced himself to stand "I... I-I still!" Haru gasped before he fell back on his knee, the poisons made his vision blur and Aoi only snorted.

"Not even worth my time. Now I will track down your friend and kill him..." Aoi declared with smirk as he was about to turn around to walk away, however, he paused when saw Haru smirked and suddenly white smoke engulfed Haru body. When it was gone, it revealed small log that turned to pin cushion from the senbons 'Kawarimi?!' Aoi thought with shock before suddenly he sensed Haru's presence behind him.

THRUST!

Aoi was barely able to raise his umbrella and block Haru's punch. However, to his shock, his umbrella shattered and snapped like a twig, Haru's fist still continued and rammed his chest. He gasped as he felt pain appear in middle of his chest before he was launched backwards.

Haru stared at the Aoi body that crashed at trees like some baseball and clicked his tongue in annoyance. That umbrella before was pure steel, it made his punch that hit Aoi not as strong as usual. Aoi probably is still alive, injured quite bad maybe, but still able to fight.

And he was hoping to catch the Jonin off guard and finish him with one strike, maybe, he underestimated Aoi too much.

Like what Haru thought, Aoi came out from the crashed trees with angry expression. Blood slipped out from his mouth and he held his chest, clearly, he was in pain.

"That hurts, brat!" Aoi snarled in anger "You will pay for that!"

Aoi, meanwhile, had to admit the punch was painful! It fucking hurts! It was more like hammer slammed at your chest rather than fist! What the hell is this boy?! The strength he displayed is not Genin! Fuck, even Jonin do not hit that strong!

'No matter... I still can win, tsk! To think I will use this sword against Genin!' Aoi thought with annoyance as he brought up Raijin no Ken "Be honoured brat, you'll see the famous Raijin, the blade of Nidaime Hokage!" He declared as he raised the sword that was glowing in yellow lightning and sparkling menacingly.

Haru only narrowed his eyes, then he closed them before taking deep breath. He tightened his forehead protector, pulled out one kunai and twirled it in one hand. Taking stance, he opened his eyes and this time his black raven eyes were replaced by red and black ring with three tomoes on each eye making Aoi's eyes widen in shock.

"Those eyes..." Aoi murmured in shock.

"Then be honoured, Aoi Rokushō, because you will face the survivor of Uchiha clan and the one, who will change this World." Haru said coldly as his eyes spun in menacing manner before he disappeared from Aoi's sight in blur of speed.

* * *

Genma skidded back as he just clashed against Demon Brothers. He pulled out few kunais from his pouch before threw them at Gozu. The missing nin from Kirigakure raised his gauntlet and blocked the projectiles.

From behind Gozu, Meizu suddenly appeared. He cocked back his head before pulling it forward **"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique)"**

Genma's eyes widened when a burst of water flew to him. He kicked the ground and jumped away, dodging the water bullet. However, when he landed, he was just in time to see Gozu in front of him with his claw ready.

'Got him!' Gozu thought with glee, however, to Gozu's surprise, Genma only smirked.

**"Fūton : Reppushō!"**

BANG!

"Gugh!"

Gozu grunted as sudden gale of wind smashed him from aside, he flipped and balanced himself using his claw as he skid it to the ground and glared at Yakumo, who smirked to him in triumph.

Meizu seeing this turned to the girl, before he swiftly dashed to her. This girl is annoying, she needs to be terminated!

Genma, who realized what Meizu's intent was turned to stop him, however, Gozu stood in front of him and delivered swipe attack with his claw making the Elite Jonin duck to dodge it.

"Your little Genin will be dead!" Gozu smirked in glee.

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Genma replied with smirk.

Yakumo performed hand seals as she saw Meizu approaching her. Facing Sasuke yesterday clearly gave her disadvantage due to his Sharingan. However, facing normal ninja is different.

**"Magen: Jubaku Satsu! (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)"** Yakumo muttered under her breath before her body dispersed into particles like mist.

Meizu eyes widened in shock seeing this, he was about to continue his dash, but he stopped in his track when noticed the ground around him was shaking. Suddenly, numerous roots shot out from the bridge and lashed at him.

He stepped back to escape, however, suddenly from behind him another waves of roots appeared and bound him 'What the?! Is this **Mokuton?! (Wood Release)**. This girl is Senju?!' He thought with shock as the roots start to slither and strangle him like a snake 'No, it's not! It Genjutsu! But this level Genjutsu! Is this girl really Genin?!' He thought with disbelief and slight awe, he clicked his tongue in annoyance before bit it slightly. Pain erupted on his lip and he freed himself from Genjutsu, however just when he was freed another one appeared.

This time the Genjutsu made everything around him turn hazy. He saw the area around them blurred as if the area was made of rainbow mist.

'This one is not as strong as before.' Meizu noted before he performed one handed seal "Kai!" He yelled and the Genjutsu around him dispersed into particles. However, as soon as he got out from the Genjutsu, his eyes widened when noticed there were three kunai stabbed around him with explosive tags latched onto them.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

"Meizu!" Gozu yelled.

"Turn your back on me?"

Gozu's eyes widened before he turned and just in time to see Genma appeared on his side and delivered thrust punch at his face.

The missing nin from Kirigakure felt his jaw cracked as Genma punched hit his face. He soared before bouncing roughly on the ground and crashed the fence of the bridge.

Yakumo seeing the result smirked, it seems they were already finished. However, she paused and her eyes widened when saw there was no one in the explosion before, she noticed Meizu sneaking and appearing behind Genma.

"Genma-sensei! Behind you!" She yelled to warn him.

Genma's eyes widened and turned to see Meizu swung down his gauntlet, slicing Genma. However, 'Genma' suddenly exploded in white smoke, revealing it was only a log that was sliced into pieces.

Meizu clicked his tongue in annoyance as he saw his prey escape. He turned and saw Gozu stood up while rubbing his head because of pain he got.

Meanwhile Genma reappeared not far from Yakumo with calm look. His eyes were glued on Meizu and noticed there were slight tatters and burn wound on his body, no doubt, he did not escape without harm from the explosion.

"Keep your eyes open, Yakumo..." Genma warned and Yakumo nodded.

"Hai, Sensei..."

Gozu and Meizu stood in front of them while taking stance again, they glanced to each other before nodding.

"You two should know. There is a reason why we became missing nin from Kirigakura..." Gozu said as his hand moved to his rebreather.

"And there is a reason why we listed in Bingo Book..." Meizu added as his hand also moved to his rebreather.

Both brothers removed their face cover at the same time and tossed it away, revealing their twin faces. But that not what caught Genma attention, but a white pale smoke from their mouths.

'Those are...' Genma eyes become grimmer, he had a bad feeling for some reason.

"We escaped because there was bloodline purge in Kiri..." Gozu spoke, the white smoke was still coming out from his mouth.

"And we also one of those, who possess it..." Meizu continued.

"However, unlike our fellow bloodline Shinobi, we still can't control ours bloodline properly and it endangers everyone around us save for us. But by wearing that rebreather, we were able to repress our ability." Gozu said as he grinned, the mist still coming out from his mouth.

"That smoke... No... Mist... You two..." Genma eyes widened as he finally realized what those are, he had seen that ability in Great Third Shinobi War.

"Yes..." Meizu grinned as if was enjoying Genma's expression "Ours bloodline is **Futton (Boil Release)**..." He stated as the mist that out from their mouths began to spread.

'This is bad... Very bad...' Genma grimly thought.

* * *

Sasuke twisted his body as he dodged strike from Haku. He raised his kunai and tried to strike the ice user back. However, Haku anticipated this as she used her forearm to block Sasuke arm, preventing the kunai from stabbing her.

"I have advantage over you." Haku said in monotone and Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, really? Then humour me..." Sasuke said with challenging smirk as they got trapped in deadlock.

"This!" Haku declared before one of her hands blurred into hand seals making everyone, who was watching, surprised. Then, she raised one leg and stomped on the water, making it splash water drops and surround them, but they all were floating and formed sharp projectiles **"Hijutsu : Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Technique : Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)"**

Haku immediately leaped back as the needles of the water storm came down to pierce Sasuke and the ground in order to not get caught in crossfire.

She then stared at where Sasuke was as she landed. However, to her surprise, she didn't see any sign of Sasuke's body.

"He's gone?" She exclaimed with surprise. Suddenly, her instinct screamed and she leaped back once again to dodge multiple shurikens that were launched at her.

"Hmph! Is that all?"

Haku's eyes widened when heard Sasuke voice behind her, she spun around just in time to see Sasuke strike her. However, Haku proved her skill by still being able to block the strike even from behind.

Sasuke only smirked before he threw the kunai he held and like he expected, Haku ducked to dodge it. But his leg was already waiting and Haku got her jaw kicked by Sasuke.

'Haku lost in speed?!' Zabuza thought in shock.

'Hmph! Feels like de javu...' Sasuke thought as he saw Haku bounced on the ground before balancing herself while crouching.

"I can't have you underestimating my team by calling them 'Brats', Sasuke is the leaf village's #1 rookie, Sakura is the brightest in the village, and Naruto is the #1 hyperactive, Unpredictable, Knucklehead ninja in the village" Kakashi said with pride in his voice.

"Heheh... Heheh... Haku, do you realize? That at this rate we'll be driven back" Zabuza said in slightly creepy tone.

"Yeah..." Haku replied as she slowly stood up, seemingly not wounded by Sasuke's previous strike "We can't have that..." Haku said doing a weird hand seal **"Hyōton Hijutsu Makyō Hyōshō (Ice Release Secret Technique : Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)"**

Sasuke and all Team 7 watched in awe and astonishment as multiple mirrors made from ice appeared. They formed like a dome and started caging Sasuke.

"What the hell..." Sasuke murmured. Haku walked to the mirror and as if it was made of complete water, her body merged and the mirror surrounding Sasuke also showed Haku image.

"Now, let me show you my true speed." Haku said as she pulled out senbon and threw it.

SLICE!

Sasuke's eyes widened when it was able to graze his cheeks and he was not even able to see it! It was simply too fast!

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

"ARGHH!"

Soon Haku launched another barrage of attacks and this time Sasuke was clearly outmatched as his body was pierced by multiple senbons.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled and was about to step in, however, Zabuza appeared in front of him and smirked.

"Ah, ah, ah. Your enemy is me..." Zabuza said with glee.

Sasuke meanwhile was having a hard time in dome. He was clearly outmatched! The speed Haku displayed was on par with Haru! Or even faster! He had hard time to keep up with Haru and now facing enemy that is faster is something else!

'I can't let this keep going!' Sasuke thought while gritting his teeth, his eyes then morphed to Sharingan and he was able to see some Haku movement 'There!' He raised his kunai and blocked multiples senbons from Haku.

The girl showed surprised look behind her mask. Then, she stared at his eyes and noted they turned to Sharingan. Zabuza had told her about it and she also had observed how Kakashi fights.

'Still... He only has two tomoes? Why does Kakashi have three? Maybe this one is still not at full power. Doesn't matter, even if he is able to see me it will be useless if he can't follow me.' Haku thought as she prepared another senbons and launched them at Sasuke.

'I can see her!' Sasuke thought with slight smirk as he blocked the attack. However, many still pierced his body and he grimaced 'But my body still can't handle it. Damn! I know I'm faster and could dodge a few, but... Looks like speed training is required, Haru is right. Sharingan will be useless if you possess weak body.' He gritted his teeth as he recalled his spar with Haru. The man practically still kicked his ass, with Sharingan or without.

As Sasuke was facing barrages of senbons. Sakura outside couldn't help but feel worry, she sure wanted to help, but she had order to stay with Tazuna! She couldn't just keep her feeling first and endanger the client's life!

'Wait! At this distance, if I can put chakra to strengthen my throw, then...' Sakura's eyes widened in realization, she pulled out kunai and glared at the ice dome 'Let see, I hope this will work!' She thought as she controlled and kneaded her chakra to her forearm and wrist and quickly threw to the dome.

And like she predicted, the strength that used was strong enough to launch projectile to reach the dome as it targeted Haku. However, the ice user suddenly extended her hand and caught the incoming projectile without much problem.

"This level won't even bother me." Haku stated "You need to-!?" Suddenly multiple shurikens were launched at her, she was barely able to twist her face and make it hit her mask. However, the strength was still quite big as it knocked her out from her mirror.

"What the-"

POOOF!

A white smoke appeared in field, gaining everyone's attention and when it blew up it revealed grinning Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki has arrived!" He declared with grin and excitement.

* * *

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! BREAK!

Haru jumped back before skidding in the ground, his breath was quite heavy as panted. He stareв at the kunai he held in his hand and noticed it was broken, crumbled after clashing against Raijin no Ken.

His cloth was slightly tattered, there was a burn mark around his body too, indicating he got wounded by the sword once but was still able to fight.

Facing Aoi was actually not hard, however, facing that sword is really troublesome. It could send wave of chakra and strong enough to repel or slice all the jutsu he threw at him! Fighting at close range was dangerous and quite risky when he held that sword.

Aoi also jumped back and skidded in the ground, his face was pure anger and there was slight frustration in his eyes. This boy is Genin? Really? REALLY?! Fuck! This boy is anything but Genin! He could probably take down Jonin!

He almost died and lost many times! The only thing that saved him was Raijin until now. He already caught off guard for more than five times! It was only Raijin that saved him, and while he claimed he is invincible outside, but deep inside his heart he couldn't help, but admit he feels afraid of this boy.

Haru stared at Aoi with impassive look. He pulled another pair of kunais and twirled it in both his hands before gripping them tightly. Then, he quickly dashed, surprising speed for someone at his age.

Aoi clicked his tongue before he raised Raijin and delivered downward slash, sending arc shaped electric energy to Haru. But the boy saw it with ease, he pivoted and dodged the attack before resuming his speed and with blur he disappeared and reappeared above Aoi, his kunai brought down with intent to cut the Jonin from Amegakure.

CLAAAANG! SPARK!

Small explosion was created as Haru's kunai clashed with Raijin. By any means, the difference between the weapons was very clear and it should be Haru's to break. However, there was a slight difference, the kunai that stroke Raijin were imbued by red flame around it, making it stronger and covered by element it made the weapon more formidable.

Haru landed, and resumed his attack without pause. Aoi raised Raijin and blocked all the strikes. Despite Aoi's calm look it was clear he is having hard time dealing with Haru.

Haru outclassed him, in speed and strength. All Aoi had is Raijin and that was the only thing saved him from being skewered by Haru ever since the beginning, it also what made him into Jonin. He was actually only Chunin from Konoha and turned to Jonin due to Raijin no Ken after all.

They clashed again, and another spark was created. For moment they engaged in deadlock and their eyes met before it was broken by Aoi, who managed to push Haru away. The boy seemed taken aback by the strength and took step back, Aoi didn't give a chance as he stepped forward and delivered spinning slash.

Haru immediately jumped back, however, his movement seemed to be late and the Rajin managed to graze his chest. The cut was not deep, but it clearly could make him feel the pain as his eyes widened seeing spurt of blood coming out from the sword.

Aoi smirked slightly seeing this, the boy seemed to appear exhausted already 'This is it! Time to die, brat!' Aoi roared before he brought Raijin and delivered large thunder at strike Haru, who just landed while holding his chest.

Unfortunately for Aoi, the boy flipped and dodged the attack before gracefully landing on the ground. His face was stoic and impassive while his mouth let out slight pant.

"I admit... You are very good... I'm impressed you were able to push me this far. As expected from the survivor of Uchiha clan, you really have talent..." Aoi admitted with smirk "But this is over! That cut is not deep, but it is enough to wound you, right? The reason why Raijin no Ken so fatal is because it contains electricity. And when it strikes human body, which contains liquid, it will be very painful and dangerous." He explained with glee as he saw Haru seemed winced due to pain "Why don't we stop this fight and you come with me, brat? To Amegakure, my village can provide you with better training. You can have your vengeance and avenge to Itachi!" He offered with grin "I mean, what that village could offer you? They are too weak! They are too naïve and pacifist!"

"Hmph! Your wish, I'm loyal to Konoha and only Konoha." Haru snorted "And speaking about insulting Konoha, do need I remind you that pacifist village is the winner of last two Shinobi wars? And Itachi also grew up there, so do Orochimaru. What was your village able to produce? Only Hanzo, but that's it!" He mocked with smirk made Aoi fume inwardly.

"And here I was being kind to you. It seems I really have to kill you... Prepare to die, brat!" Aoi stated and Haru smirk only increased.

"You first..." Haru said as he made single hand seal.

Aoi eyes widened when he saw the boy only has one kunai in his hand. Where is the other one?! Suddenly, his eyes caught the kunai stabbed in the ground not far from his position and it was latched with explosive tag.

'W-What?! B-But when did- When we were engaged in deadlock! That brat!'

"Always wanted to say this. ART IS A BLAST!" Haru shouted as he channelled chakra to the tag.

BOOOOOM!

A large explosion formed and appeared as the tag exploded from the Haru's chakra. It wasn't too big, but it was clearly enough to destroy the whole house. Haru let out sigh as he saw it finally over, but then his eyes widened when he still sensed Aoi chakra and he gritted his teeth.

'This man is stubborn! I give him that! But this has to end! I already spent too much time here!' Haru thought before he dashed while performing hand seals.

From the explosion, a wave of yellow lightning appeared and blasted away the smoke. Aoi appeared, his cloth tattered and there was a burn mark on his body, he clearly did not escape unharmed. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, that was the close one! Really close!

Suddenly he heard sounds that seemed to be like thousand birds chirping. He turned and his eyes widened when saw Haru dashing to him, in his left hand was a blue lightning that was sparkling dangerously while in his right hand was glowing blue sphere that gave spiral aura of chakra.

'What the! His chakra is visible! What kind of technique is that?! If that'll hit me..!' Aoi thought with slight fear "Don't get cocky brat! Raijin!" He roared as he swung the sword with two hands and sent a large wave of thunder to Haru.

However, Haru did not stop. Seeing the massive wave, he raised his right hand and thrust it forward.

BAAANG!

A momentary impact was created as Rasengan clashed with the wave of thunder from Raijin. Had it was Raijin itself the lightning it would win, but it was only wave of chakra from the sword and Rasengan was still superior. And as expected, the wave of thunder immediately dismissed and dispersed after the short clash, followed by explosion.

Aoi smirked with glee seeing this, the boy was caught in explosion and clearly it was over. However, his eyes widened when saw Haru burst out from the smoke with faster speed and the lightning in his hand sparked more dangerously.

'This brat is persistent!' Aoi thought in annoyance "You insect! Do you think you can win against me?! I'm a Jonin and holder of Raijin no Ken! I'm invincible! Let me show you how different our power is!" He shouted as he raised Raijin and dashed to Haru.

Haru ignored his comment and only increased his speed further, his Sharingan spinning and he jumped with Chidori cocked back and ready to strike.

"**CHIDORI!**"

"DIE BRAT!"

And not long afterward, a spurt of blood splattered to the ground.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

There was a moment of silence, followed by sounds of blood that were dripping to the ground. Haru and Aoi stared at each other, both of them had wide eyes and showed disbelief.

Before it was broken by Aoi. The Jonin of Amegakure eyes turned to smirk shape, before low chuckle came out from his mouth. The low chuckle explode into full burst of laugh.

He let out laugh for a moment before calming down and stared up at the boy.

"Well..." He started "That was very close one, right, Boy?" He asked.

Indeed, it was a very close one.

Hanging on middle of air was Haru. His eyes wide in shock and blood dripped from his mouth. His left hand that still sparked from Chidori extended and was only few inches away from stabbing Aoi's face.

But it never made to its target... Because in the middle of Haru chest was Raijin, pierced through it and now preventing him from reaching the Jonin.

"Gaha..." Haru coughed a glob of blood as Raijin let out electric wave in his chest.

Aoi lips narrowed to wicked smirk, and his eyes contained large amount of glee as he stared at the boy.

"This is my win..." He stated with satisfaction in his voice.

* * *

**Wohooo! Done! Chapter with full battle!**

**Sorry it take quite long, writing battle scene not that easy ya know hehehe.**

**I hope you all satisfied with the battle! This actually quite take a lot of me to make the scene!**

**And how is it?! Gozu and Meizu possess Boil Release! Oh yeah, I give them that one seeing they wearing rebreather. At first I want to give them Boil and Lava, but seeing they both actually able to use water jutsu in anime when hide from Kakashi, I change it into Boil Release!**

**Yakumo skills, if you all must know she really that good. She trap the whole Konoha in genjutsu by herself! And that still having her power sealed! Yakumo in Genjutsu is very strong and maybe rivaled Jonin, however her taijutsu is standard. That her biggest weakness, there reason why Hiruzen put her with Haru after all**

**Genma, I don't know much about him. But maybe I will give him fire affinity or earth. I can't find any about him in wikia, he rarely fight too. Maybe I will give him earth, how about it?**

**Sasuke and Naruto vs Haku, and Kakashi vs Zabuza. I very tempted to not write it since it was very similar one like in Cannon. Haku is very skilled if you want to know, I don't think Naruto and Sasuke at level where they in prelminaries Chunin can beat her. She show high skill when resurrected by Edo Tensei in Fourth Shinobi War. I maybe won't write their battle, save for time when Haru interfere maybe**

**Should I leave Haku and Zabuza death? Or make one of them live? Which one is better in your opinion?**

**Haru second affinity already decided! It will be shown later! Thanks for giving suggestion everyone!**

**Speaking about Haru, wow! That battle was unexpected, wouldn't you agree?! Haru got stabbed by Raijin directly! *gasp*! How he going to survive?! How he going to win?! Can he survive and make the table back on his side?!**

**Oh by the way, I have question regarding Orochimaru. Orochimaru have his hand severed by Hiruzen using Shiki Fuin, make him unable to use ninjutsu anymore. But when he move to his next body what happen? Could he use his hand again or what?**

**I mean what happen if he got sealed by Shiki Fuin whole and not just arm? Could he still be resurrected via his cursed seal?**

**I think that's all the question! Next chapter will be continue of battle in Wave! How the result will be?! Will Haku or Zabuza died?! Will Haru survive?! Find it out in next chapter!**

**Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	16. Battle in the Wave! Pt 2

**This chapter have been edited by Froua******de**! All the credits of the better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 15. Battle in the Wave! Pt 2**

* * *

Genma clicked his tongue in annoyance as he was forced to jump and dodge the attacks that Demon Brothers launched at him.

Things were really bad now for him and Yakumo.

Boil Release, is element that is created by mixing fire and water affinities. It is different from Ice Release, Scorch Release, Magnet Release or Lava Release. All four mentioned before are the result of elements that are mixed together, however, none of them is opposite to each other.

Boil Release is made from fire and water, an opposite elements. So it actually is not surprising someone is having hard time controlling it, however, if the people, who possess those elements succeed in controlling it there is no doubt that person will be very strong.

But, it not just like that, even if it is not controlled, Boil Release is also dangerous due to the hot mist and smoke they breathe. You can say they almost like dragons that can't control their fire breath, resulting in destruction everywhere because to the high temperature in their breaths. Even in one case they could produce acid mist that is very potent and lethal.

'Fighting too close is hard seeing they are surrounded by very hot steam. The only choice is to use long range fight, but...' Genma jumped and just in time to dodge a sphere made of hot breath that slammed behind him, as the result the ground immediately melted 'This place is just too open. Facing them in this environment is clearly giving me disadvantage...' He thought while gritting his teeth in frustration.

"What's wrong, Shiranui? Having hard time?" Gozu taunted with a smirk.

"We only got caught by surprise when facing those two brats before." Meizu added "If we fight those two again, they will dead. Though, I'm sure, Haku already settled that for us..." He chuckled a bit.

"You two talk too much..." Genma stated as he performed hand seals 'It was hot mist or something like that, if I use fire, then it will explode. Let see!' He thought **"Katon : Endan! (Fire Release : Fire Bullet)"** He yelled as he spew out 5M size flame ball at Gozu and Meizu.

"Useless! **Suiton : Suidan no Jutsu! ****(Water Release : Water Bullet Technique)"** Gozu spew out ball of water and it collided with the flame, creating steam out from it.

"There is a reason why we are always together. People will try to attack us with fire, but we have each other. One of us can do the cover while the other attacks." Meizu said with smirk before he performed **"Futton : Futdan no Jutsu! (Boil Release : Boil Bullet Technique)"** He spew out a giant hot steaming sphere toward Genma, who cursed and jumped away from the attack.

However, as soon as he landed, Gozu was already there waiting for him and swung his gauntlet to strike him. Genma was barely able to raise his hand and block it, nonetheless, his eyes widened when his hand connected with the gauntlet. He immediately jumped back, far from Gozu.

"**Suiton : Mizurappa! (Water Release : Wild Water Wave)**" Genma spew out burst of water and it hit Gozu, who was unprepared. The man grunted as he got knocked away by burst of water and crashed away from Genma.

The Tokubetsu Jonin from Konoha stared at his hand and noted there was a burn mark on it and winced. That man body was hot, very hot! It was practically almost like if he was on fire!

'So that's why one of them was fine when he got blasted by explosion. Their bloodline protects them, and since they can't control it, it turned to thing like a shield. What a troublesome opponent.' Genma thought with annoyance. Being near one of them is something very dangerous, he has to keep his distance.

He pulled out numerous shurikens before quickly throwing them at brothers. Meizu seeing this inhaled massive amount of air before breathing out a massive amount of white mist that engulfed the projectiles.

All the projectiles that got hit by the mist, immediately corroded. All of them crumbled before hitting the target and Genma narrowed his eyes at this.

Genma now clearly had a little choice. His taijutsu was useless since he couldn't get near them without getting burned. Shurikenjutsu is also out of options, seeing most of them will be melted or destroyed by being near them. Genjutsu? He is not that expert, he only uses small ones and that's it, it won't be useful against them.

Ninjutsu? While his Ninjutsu is quite good and could be compared with great Jonin like Kakashi, but the situation is two on one now. He is at disadvantage against them seeing they can protect each other.

'If only I could use lightning jutsu. Damn!' Genma cursed inwardly 'But having this large skill must be having risk... And if I guess it's correct...' He stared at Gozu and Meizu with calm face "That bloodline of yours is good, I admit. You two not being able to control it now is more like a blessing rather than curse actually, but... There is a risk of using it, right?" He stated and both brothers slightly stiffened.

"Indeed... While it's true we gain advantage, but the risk we get is also big..." Meizu responded.

"But you do not need to know, because soon you will die!" Gozu added before he dashed and Meizu followed behind him.

'Damn! At this rate it is just a matter of time...' Genma thought with irritation 'I am counting on you, Yakumo! Please finish it quickly!' He prayed inwardly as pulled out few kunais and prepared himself to fight.

Meanwhile, far from their place, Yakumo sat on the bridge while staring at the object in front of her with determined look.

'Please wait, Genma-sensei...' Yakumo thought as she began her work, determination could be seen in her eyes.

* * *

Aoi stared at Haru, who was floating in the middle of air, due to his chest pierced by Raijin. The boy was dying now as he gasped in air.

Aoi smirked before he swung Raijin, releasing the sword from Haru and sent the boy crash down to the ground. He stared down at him with superior smirk.

"I admit boy. You almost got me, it was very close... I don't know what technique you used, but I am sure I would be dead if those hit me..." Aoi said as he approached Haru, who was crouching on ground, trying his best to stand again "For Genin..." Aoi stopped and shook his head "No... You are only Genin in tittle, you may be Chunin or higher already... You are clearly not bad opponent, Haru Uchiha... At your young age to reach this level, I shudder to imagine how strong you will become in a few years..." Aoi stated and it's true, he could imagine just how strong Haru will be in the future. Clearly, this boy is very dangerous "But sadly, it was only imagination because you will die here..." He smirked wickedly.

"Don't joke!" Haru grunted out as he stared up at Aoi while forcing himself to stand "Y-You w-won't k-kill me here! B-Becaus-GAGH!" Haru screamed as Raijin pierced his shoulder, continued through it and stabbed ground.

"You are barely able to do anything now, brat, save for dying on ground and from my hand. So tell me how possibly it won't be me who is going to kill you?" Aoi asked with sneer as he twisted Raijin, getting another grunt of pain from Haru and he was clearly enjoying it.

Whimper came out from Haru's mouth and Aoi smirk widened, thinking he will cry and beg for mercy. However, to his shock, the whimper was... Strange... It was almost like... Chuckle?

Indeed... It was chuckle... It was low... Very low in fact... But Aoi still was able to hear it...

Feeling slight anger and curiosity Aoi decided to ask "What's so funny, brat?"

"Oh...*gugh*... N-Nothing... I-It j-just!" Haru gasped and he paused, suddenly his body stopped shaking and he stared up at Aoi with bloodied lips and he smirked to him "You won't kill me because I will be the one to kill you..." Haru stated with glee.

STAAAB! SQUEEELCH!

Aoi's eyes widened when he felt pain erupted from his chest. He looked down and saw kunai burst out from his back and pierce out his middle chest.

"W-Wha?!" He blurted out, blood was also running out from it as he raised his hand and tried to grab the kunai. Only for it to be pressed further, creating more pain for him.

Despite the pain he felt, he was still able to tilt his head back and saw Haru standing behind him, his face was stoic and impassive with his Sharingan seemed glowing for moment, there were no wounds on his body save for dirt on his face and cloth.

"W-Wha?!" Aoi asked in shock "B-But h-how?! I-It *cough* c-can't be!-"

"Genjutsu..." Haru simply responded as he gestured to the body that laid beneath Aoi with his hand. Aoi turned to see the 'Haru' below him smirking and bursting into black butterflies.

"H-How could it be?!" Aoi still asked in disbelief "I-It w-was so real! I-I p-practically c-could *cough*"

"When facing Uchiha, hear one advice." Haru said with mirth in his voice "Never, ever stare in Uchiha's eyes..." He told him as his Sharingan was spinning and Aoi's eyes widened in realization at that "Now..." Haru purred softly, and smirk adorned his emotionless face "Die..." He stated before the kunai that pierced Aoi exploded into flurry of flames.

SWOOOOOOSHHHH!

"GGGUUGGYYAAAAGGHHHHH!"

Aoi scream of pain and cry echoed in the forest as his whole body engulfed in blazing flame that spread from the kunai that pierced his chest. At that moment he knew nothing but pain as he felt his whole skin, body and everything about him burn.

Haru stared at Aoi with slight smirk as the Jonin was screaming in pain, the scream continued for a moment before Aoi's body finally slumped down. The reincarnated man pulled out his kunai and pushed away the burning body.

"This kunai is really good..." Haru mused as he stared at the kunai-blade, ignoring the corpse as if nothing happened. The model was the same as the one Kotetsu and Izumo used when faced Kakuzu. He bought it from one of Konoha finest blacksmith and the prize was quite expensive "But now I got better one..." He said as he stared at the Raijin on the ground with a smirk.

He bent down and took the sword before pushing the button and the yellow lightning began to glow then it extended like lightsaber he saw in Star Wars movie.

"Blade that even surpasses Chidori and Rasengan... A blade that contains S-rank stabbing power... Fufufu, I've clearly found treasure." Haru chuckled in slightly wicked manner as he stared at the sword and gave few swings to test it. 'Hmm, very light. It is if I am only holding hilt rather than sword, I actually planned to get private weapon, but I never thought it will be Raijin...' He thought with mirth "Oh well, time to go to everyone' place..." He murmured as he turned off the Raijin, he then knelt and pulled out one scroll storage and sealed the sword inside.

He may not be good at sealing, but at least he knew how to seal and unseal something from storage. As he sealed the legendary blade, corner of his eyes caught something and he turned to Aoi's body then blinked in surprise.

Aoi's body twitched, indicating he was still alive. Barely perhaps, this man seems quite persistent, or maybe it's because he avoided getting stabbed in fatal area?

"You are still alive?" Haru asked in bored tone before he approached him and stared at Aoi, who was barely recognizable due to burn wounds.

"B-Bastard..." Aoi spat to him and Haru merely smirked.

"You know, I actually intended to find it out during Chunin Exam by interrogating one of your Genin. However, Jonin like you must know, especially person like you..." Haru said with chuckle, he stared at Aoi with glee filling his face and his Sharingan spun menacingly "You will do very good. Aoi Rokushō, tell me any secret passage to Amegakure!" He demanded as he stared into Aoi's eyes, who turned to hollow and black the moment Sharingan met his gaze.

* * *

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! GAAKIN!

Genma skidded back while balancing himself. His breath was heavy, his outfit tattered in many places, one of his shirt sleeves was ripped, revealing burn mark on it.

Fighting both of them was clearly difficult. Genma must admit, he would prefer fighting Jonin rather than Demon Brothers. Don't get him wrong, the skills of those two were actually only Chunin.

But their bloodline makes it harder, especially when he can't find damn element to counter them. If it was two on two with Haru on his side Genma was sure he would already win.

Genma was quite confident in himself and he knew he is very skilled. Not a rival for Kakashi, Gai or Asuma but he is still pretty damn good. But the place he fights now and the situation is clearly not in his support, he was at huge disadvantage here.

If it was Ebisu or normal Jonin, they would be dead already against Demon Brothers seeing the situation is clearly against him.

'But...' Genma was staring at Demon Brothers, who seemed to be exhausted more than him, something that was strange seeing it was him, who was at disadvantage.

Indeed, the Demon Brothers now, while having fewer wounds than Genma, appeared to be more tired. Their breath was heavy as steam popped out from their mouths and they looked just like after going under very hard training.

'Could it be...' Genma thought with realization "I see... So that rebreathes are also to keep you two alive..." His statement made both brothers stiffened "No matter how good your bloodline is, there is a limit for it. You can't be like a hot kettle forever, either you will die due to chakra exhaustion or you will be dead due to your bloodline burning your own body in the end..." Genma smirked when noticed the disdain in both brothers' look, indicating he was right "And seeing yours two condition, you almost reached your limit, right?" He asked.

"You are quite sharp..." Gozu praised begrudgingly.

"Indeed... Our limit is 30 minutes. More than that we will dead due to chakra exhaustion or our body burned from inside." Meizu added slight explanation.

"And it's been 20 minutes since we started to fight... We only have 5 minutes left..." Gozu continued in grim tone "However, one thing you must know, the closer we are to our limit the stronger our bloodline is..."

"Which means, these 5 minutes are more than enough to kill you!" Meizu yelled as he and Gozu performed hand seals together, and in unison they cocked back their heads.

**""Futton : Futryūdan no Jutsu! (Boil Release : Boil Dragon Bullet Technique)""**

Meizu and Gozu spew out large acid mist from their mouths. The mist danced before it combined and took shape as white smoke acid giant dragon with red eyes and with roar, the dragon launched to Genma, who had wide eyes.

"Shit!" Genma cursed as he jumped back while quickly performing countless hand seals **"Suiton : Suiryūdan no Jutsu! (Water Release : Water Dragon Bullet Technique)"** He yelled as he spew out burst of water.

From the water under the bridge and the mist that surrounded the whole area, all the water from it was absorbed and combined with the one Genma spew before it morphed into gigantic water dragon with yellow eyes and soared to the mist dragon.

BOOOOOM!

Both dragons clashed and created large impact resulting in destruction around them. However, the dragons were not just gone afterwards, they clashed trying to dominate each other.

And in fighting between normal water dragon and the one that was mixed between water and fire, the result is very clear which one going to win.

Genma struggled as he pumped more chakra to overpower the boiling dragon. He knew he couldn't beat the boil dragon if the size of both dragons is the same. So he tried to overpower it by using quantity, the advantage he got there is a plenty of water here, the affinity he is very good at apparently.

Unfortunately it was still not enough. Even if his dragon was now larger, the boil dragon still soared forward, bit the water dragon and turned part of it into steam and it enlarged itself by absorbing the water dragon.

Genma gritted his teeth in anger and annoyance. Clearly, now he was losing! If this continues… 'Damn! I can't hold more than this! Yakumo, are you done yet?!' He thought with frustration.

**"Fūton : Daitoppa! (Wind Release : Great Breakthrough)"**

As if hearing his thought, Yakumo voice echoed from behind and followed by massive gale of wind that slammed the water dragon's back.

BAAAANGGG! BOOOOOOM!

The force of the wind from the gale became support of the water dragon. While it actually did not make good collaboration, but it at least was giving support and increased the force power.

As a result, the boil dragon also exploded, indicating the supported water dragon was strong enough to make it explode at least. But that did not mean end as the acid mist was now spreading to the whole area also targeting Genma and Yakumo.

"Stand back, Yakumo!" Genma shouted as he stood in front of his student in protective manner while performing hand seals "**Suiton : Suijinheki! (Water Release : Water Formation Wall)**" Genma spew out another glob of water from his mouth, mixing it with the water from the mist that not was corrupted by the acid and formed a large wall of water that protected him and Yakumo from the acid mist that tried to harm them.

It took a moment before the mist finally dispersed, making surroundings around them at least tolerable. Genma let out heavy pant, using **Suiryūdan no Jutsu** before took a lot from him.

"Are you okay, Sensei?" Yakumo asked her teacher in concern.

"I'm fine... Don't count me out yet..." Genma answered with slight smirk before it was replaced by calm look "Moreover, you are done already, right?"

"Hai, I'm done..." Yakumo said as she brought out the object and Genma's smirk adorned his face again.

"Well, this battle is ours then." Genma stated.

Gozu and Meizu, who saw the girl, narrowed their eyes. They did not see the girl during the battle, thinking Genma ordered her to stay out due to corrosive mist they spew out.

Then they see the girl brought something and raised it so Genma could see it. They focused their gaze and saw it was... Paper? No... It was... Painting?

Not just normal painting, but it was painting with picture of them. The painting was so good they had to admit, it was even almost like looking in mirror!

However, there was one disturbing thing. The painting was not normal... It was picture of them impaled by swords, multiple parts of their bodies skewered by dozen swords as if it was just raining swords.

Gozu and Meizu, who stared at painting couldn't help but seethe inwardly. However, for some reason they couldn't keep their sight out from the painting, their eyes latched to it as if there was something. Something that made them awe the painting even if it was painting of their bodies skewered like that.

...

...

...

...

Suddenly the painting was replaced by a face of grotesque creature, the creature was clearly a demon. It had two large horns on each side of its head, possessing very sharp and long fangs, brown skin and pitch black sclera with golden eyes with pitch black pupils.

SPURT! SPURT!

"GGGUAAGHHHH!"

"GGYYAAHHH!"

Pain...

So much pain...

So much pain erupted at their bodies at the same time. Blood spurted out like fountain from their chests, shoulders, forearms, thighs, forelegs, palms and else.

"W-What *cough* the *cough* hell…!?" Gozu managed to yell as he now was writhing on the ground due to pain, Meizu also was clearly not in better condition as he was also lying on the ground and not moving while coughing glob of blood.

"Meet Konoha's Bloodline, **Ryūketsu no Sakkaku (Bloody Illusion)**..." Genma spoke in nonchalant tone as he stared at the Demon Brothers that were suffering from Yakumo's ability "The ability to make all the damage done by Genjutsu into real damage. This is Kurama clan bloodline that is only born _once_ upon _few_ generations." Genma explained.

"W-What?! I-Impossible!" Gozu exclaimed in shock "S-Such b-bloodline is!" Absurd! That was totally absurd! Even in Kiri and their faction such thing is close to impossible! A bloodline that is capable of turning pain from Genjutsu to reality?! That was very absurd technique!

"Actually, it is very close to impossible, seeing this bloodline only comes once in _few _generations of Kurama clan. And, there is dangerous drawback too, despite how powerful it is." Genma responded as he knew about Ido, second personality that was raging inside Yakumo "Truthfully, I could beat you two by myself. However, there was a risk that I will get damaged due to your bloodline. But thanks to Yakumo here I didn't need to, all I need was to stall you two until she was done doing her work." Genma explained as he actually could defeat Demon Brothers if he was serious, he was Yondaime Guard Platoon after all. He had faced stronger opponents and survived in Third Shinobi War. Facing two Chunin that possess bloodline won't be a problem for him.

"S-Such thing is... Gaha..." Gozu body slumped and he coughed last blood before he was able to finish his words, indicating he finally died.

Genma stared at Gozu with impassive look, however, his attention turned to Yakumo, who had her body moving randomly as if she lost her balance. Swiftly he got on her side and held her body.

"Are you okay, Yakumo?" Genma asked with slight concern.

"I-I'm fine, Sensei..." Yakumo gasped out "I-It just headache and exhaustion..." She murmured out, using Ryūketsu no Sakkaku takes a lot of her ever since she managed to overpower Ido with help of Sandaime. It takes a lot of chakra and also she needs to be calm and not bothered, she has to have blank mind have pure intent. If she did it while thinking many negative things, it would make the Ido reawaken. That's why she took time to draw the painting, she needed to be calm and stay positive.

"Well, good then, Ojou-san..." Genma said as he went back to her nickname "You already have done enough, you can relax now. I will go to help the other, you stay here, okay?"

"No..." Yakumo declined as she pushed herself to stand "I am fine... I still can fight, I still can provide support..." She stated as she straightened her stance again.

Genma stared at her with narrowed eyes. Exhaustion was clear on Yakumo's face, but the level was not that high. It's true she seemed to still be able to provide support in the fight. Well, if she wants to, then it's fine.

Too focused on Yakumo, Genma did not notice Meizu, who was barely able to survive. He stared at the pair with anger in his eyes, he knew he was going to die, it was clear the wound was fatal now, but…

'They will go with us!' He thought with anger, he forced himself to perform hand seals and pour his last chakra to his throat "**Futton : Futdan no Jutsu!**" He yelled as he spew out a sphere of acid mist to the group.

Genma and Yakumo, who heard him turned to him with wide eyes and shock seeing he is not just still alive but is able to perform Ninjutsu.

Genma's eyes widened at the incoming steam sphere, clearly he was taken back and surprised 'Shit! I don't have time to-'

"**Doton : Doryūheki! (Earth Release : Earth-Style Wall)**"

A familiar voice echoed and followed by sound of ground shaking before it raised and protected Backup Team from the incoming sphere of acid mist. The wall proved to be tough enough to block the acid mist as it was not destroyed and only got front part of it melted, not deep enough to create a hole.

Genma and Yakumo turned to see Haru hopping down from tree, he stared at them with calm look and immediately approached them.

"That was close one, Casanova... You should come faster..." Genma said with a smirk "But thanks anyway..."

"Sorry, I'm late, the reinforcement ninja was Jonin. I had quite hard time dealing with him..." Haru apologized as he walked to them "Are you two okay, Yakumo-san, Sensei?" He asked.

"We are fine, just exhausted. Sensei got second degree burns on his arm and corner side of his face…" Yakumo answered as she looked at her teacher.

"Let me take a look, Sensei." Haru said as he approached the man and the Tokubetsu Jonin only grunted with nod, letting Haru to do his work "Wow, this is... Almost like a wound from acid... Where did you get this?" He asked, clearly curious.

"From Shodaime Hokage." Genma answered and Haru responded to it with deadpan look "Of course from those two, geez, you could be quite stupid sometimes." He said while rolling his eyes.

If Haru was surprised, he didn't show much save for furrowed eyebrows. It was actually quite obvious for him, this is real World. Not anime like he watched, Demon Brother won't be that weak and there must be a reason why they fled with Zabuza. He already suspected they had bloodline since there was purge of bloodlines in Kiri thanks to Obito for that.

'But still... Boil Release? Damn! That was something, to think they will possess the one Mei Terumi has...' Haru thought with whistle inwardly "What was their bloodline?" He asked, pretending to not know.

"Boil Release... Mixture between Fire and Water, it created steam or mist that could possess high temperature or be something like acid..." Genma answered and Haru hummed.

"That was troublesome ability... But still... Combining opposite elements? Combining normal ones is already hard and you need to possess high-Chunin chakra control level to do that... To think opposite element could be mixed..." Haru murmured as he imagined how hard to mix the opposite affinities together, he had tried to mix few Ninjutsu but they always responded by blowing up in his face.

"Gozu and Meizu also didn't have control over their bloodline if you want to know... They could produce Boil Release but they couldn't control it." Genma said and Haru gave questioning look "I will answer and explain it later, we need to help Kakashi. Are you done already?"

"I'm not professional. It still needs further medical care but I already made your wounds tolerable at least. It's done!" Haru said as he removed his hand from Genma's wound, and the Tokubetsu Jonin stared at his arm. Some of the burned skin already peeled off and was replaced by new one, but the burned area was still bigger.

"It's good enough though... I'm glad you can use medical Ninjutsu at least." Genma responded with smirk "Anyway, it's time to go back to Kakash-"

**BA-DUMP!**

Suddenly the whole Backup Team froze. Their eyes widened and their skin slightly paled when some sensation hit them.

'T-This chakra!' Genma thought with slight fear. He will never forget this chakra, not after what Konoha went through!

'W-What i-is this chakra?!' Yakumo openly shuddered as fear started to growth in her eyes 'I-I-It's e-even darker than Ido's! W-What k-kind of being possesses this chakra?!' She thought in fear.

Haru, meanwhile, was the first one to snap from his shock. He gritted his teeth and glanced to chakra's direction 'This is... No doubt... Kyuubi's chakra! Damn! I knew Haku is still too strong for them! Tsk!' He then started using Shunshin and disappeared in blur.

"Wait! Haru!" Genma yelled 'If he goes there and Naruto seal starts to break... Damnit!'

Haru promptly ignored his superior and dashed to Naruto's direction. He only has one chance! He will be damned if he'll let this slip!

* * *

Meanwhile with Naruto.

Thick mist had settled oppressively over the bridge. Naruto could barely make out Haku feminine features. The other ninja was still speaking and Naruto had, in a move that would have amazed nearly everyone who knew him, chosen to remain silent.

It because the words filled with pain were familiar to him... The words that described how it was in his condition...

"Do you know… the pain of living without a dream? The knowledge that no one in the world needs you?"

Haku eyes that held warmth, softness, gentleness and kindness when she had spoken to him in forest were now empty and dull...

Just like him in the past...

"What are you trying to say?" Naruto asked with confusion and anger reflected on his face.

"Zabuza-san has no need of a weak shinobi. You stole my reason for existing..." Haku said with a bitter smile as if amused by a bad joke. Naruto was quickly coming to realization that her smile, her expression, and her tone of voice were all masks that Haku always wears.

Just like him in the past...

Naruto eyes narrowed and he couldn't help but to ask "Why…? Why do you fight for the sake of that guy?" He couldn't understand it, why? Zabuza was a terrible person, while Haku was in many ways... Someone, who is very similar to himself... "He's an evil ninja, who gets money from bad guys and does terrible things!" Naruto's voice grew louder and he began to gesture angrily, "Is that no-brow the only precious person you have!?"

Haku was silent for a moment before answering, "Once, a long time ago, I had people that were precious to me." Her eyes dropped "My… parents."

As Haku was telling her story, Naruto couldn't help but feel the sense of familiarity with the tragic ninja grow. It was a horrifying story, and at that moment Naruto slowly understood... He started to understand just what kind of life Haku went through.

"When I came to, I realized that I had just killed my own father. And at the time, I thought of myself as… no, I had no choice but to think of myself as being… I realized that that was the most painful thing a person could feel."

"The most painful thing?" Naruto's voice was small as he voiced his query.

"The feeling that your existence is needed to no one in this world..." Haku's dead eyes haunted Naruto, almost as much as her words did.

The feeling that your existence is needed to no one in this world...

_**"Hey, isn't that he..."**_

_**"Yes! He THAT boy..."**_

_**"Why Hokage-sama talk with HIM?"**_

_**"What Hokage-sama thinking? Make that THING into a ninja..."**_

Painful memories flashed in his mind as he remembered how people always whisper and murmur about him...

How they never wanted him to exist...

'She is just like me...' Naruto thought with realization finally came to his mind.

He still remembers how people treated him. Even now few still give that look to him...

"You said this to me, 'I want to become the number one ninja in my village, and have everyone recognize me.' When someone who accepts you from the bottom of their heart appears, that person should become the most important person to you. Zabuza-san knew that I was from a family with a bloodline limit, yet he still raised me. He wanted this ability that everyone else hated." Haku said as her head lowered, she still remembers the first time she met the ninja.

_**"A brat like you won't be needed by anyone, and you'll die like a beggar."**_

_**Haku only stared at him for a moment before smiled up at the towering Mist-nin "You have the same eyes as me."**_

_**Zabuza stared at the tiny, hollow-eyed child for a long moment. If he was bothered by her words he did not show it "Kid, do you want to be needed by someone?" Zabuza asked gruffly. "Can you give everything to me?"**_

_**Beggar-child and Jonin continued to match gazes. Haku gave a single, slow nod. "Then, starting today, your ability is mine." Haku rose and moved to Zabuza's side. The man patted Haku's head once with his large, calloused hand before drawing Haku close.**_

_**"Come with me."**_

Haku expression twisted in bittersweet sorrow when she remembered Zabuza's acceptance "I was happy." She spoke softly.

Haku still remembered clearly the night that they had left the Country of Water. But that memory brought Haku no happiness as she had failed in her pledge and her purpose to exist "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san. I couldn't be the tool you wished for me to be after all." Haku murmured before her head lifted, and she began to walk towards Naruto. Naruto anxiously took a step back, he had bad feeling somehow. Haku stopped and gazed down at him.

"Naruto-kun..." Haku spoke "Please… Kill me." Naruto's eyes widened in shock hearing that, how could a person sincerely ask for death like that? Haku had given up. Why was a single defeat so unacceptable? Did Zabuza really mean that much to her? "Please, kill me..." Naruto clenched his jaw as Haku repeated the request, her dull eyes stared down at him. "Why are you hesitating?" Naruto looked away, pained, and stepped back.

"I can't believe that stupid story! Weapon? Tool? Someone like that is a precious person to you? Is that okay with you!?" He yelled in anger, and there was a hint of pleading that he didn't want to kill her. She reminded him so much of himself!

"Is it wrong?" Haku asked softly making Naruto shocked.

"What…?" He blurted out in surprise.

"How is that wrong?" Haku repeated.

"But… that's…"

"Zabuza-san had hopes for me. He needed me." Memories flashed through Haku's mind. "But now, I have lost the purpose that made me who I am. Zabuza-san will no longer need me anymore." Naruto's face reflected his despair, "That's why I am asking you…" Haku paused and took a breath "Now, hurry…" Haku continued almost urgently. Naruto took another step back, agonized. Haku's eyes narrowed slightly, "Why are you still hesitating?"

Naruto growled in frustration. "I don't understand!" He shouted "Is remaining strong the only reason you have for staying in this world!?" He practically demanded this time "You could have made people recognize you for something else other than just fighting..." He finished, his tone pleading. He didn't want to kill her... To kill someone so similar to himself.

"The day I met you in the forest, I felt that you and I were alike..." Haku said. "That's what I thought," Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "You should understand," Haku paused for a moment before continuing "I'm sorry that I have to soil your hands."

Naruto eyes filled with sadness. Grief and despair... And defeat... He knew he was the one, who won in this battle but... It felt like he lost...

In deep part of Naruto's mind... He understood exactly what is Haku's position. He remembered that day, the day when he met Haru first time. The day when Haru came and smiled to him while extending his hand.

_**"Name's Haru, want to be my friend?"**_

The moment Naruto took that hand, he got pulled from the darkness that surrounded him... From the darkness that trapped him and hurt him...

And he remembered... He remembered he was willing to do anything... As long as Haru remains on his side and is never going to leave him... As long as Haru remains on his side and accepts him... As long as Haru remains on his side and will always need him...

'If... If Haru... If Haru actually like Zabuza... Will I... Will I become like her?' Naruto thought with sadness as he stared at Haku, the girl that reminded him so much of himself.

To kill someone, who looks so much like you is...

"I've heard everything..."

Naruto and Haku eyes widened when new and familiar voice echoed, they immediately turned around to find the person, who spoke and found him crouching on fence of the bridge. His face was stoic and impassive as he stared at both of them.

"H-Haru!" Naruto called in surprise and there was relief on his face seeing he came "H-How long have you been here?!" He asked.

"Long enough to hear how Haku-san got picked by Zabuza..." Haru said simply, his voice was impassive and Haku narrowed her eyes.

'But I just sensed him now! I clearly kept my sense alert until now! He couldn't be that good in stealth, could he?' Haku thought sceptically.

What Haku was thinking was actually true... Haru in truth just arrived and he lied about being already there for some time. However, what Haku and Naruto didn't know Haru already knew the story, and if he spoke about the story, then they will think Haru is indeed good in stealth and was already there ever since the beginning since the only person Haku told her story is Naruto.

"You want us to kill you?" Haru asked, his voice was stoic and void of any emotion.

"Yes..." Haku answered firmly without hesitation.

Haru stared at Haku with impassive look. Slowly his hand moved to kunai-blade weapon on his back and he raised it "Then close your eyes, I will make sure it won't be painful..." He stated simply in monotone.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock hearing Haru is going to kill Haku just like that and not showing any emotion. Haku meanwhile smiled bitterly to him and nodded before she closed her eyes.

"Thank you..." She murmured and Haru nodded back before he was gone in blur of speed.

"Wait! Haru! Wait!" Naruto yelled, his voice desperate as he extended his hand to stop Haru, but it was too late. Haru reappeared behind Haku with his kunai-blade raised and he swung-

HIT!

His kunai-blade' pommel to Haku's back head was very strong. It made the girl's eyes shot wide open before they closed again and she slumped, fell to the ground with her face first.

Naruto, who was watching openly blinked in shock seeing this as he paused on his track, surprised at what Haru did. Haru meanwhile only stared down at Haku with impassive look before turning to Naruto.

"Tie her up... She is already done... I know you didn't want to kill her.. I can see it in your eyes..." Haru said softly as he stared at Naruto.

"H-Haru... H-Haru I-I-..." Naruto took a moment to regain his composure before he smiled bitterly to Haru "Thank you..." He said softly and Haru nodded with smile.

"And don't worry about Sasuke." Haru saw Naruto's eyes widen and his body stiffened "He is not dead, he in death-like state. Just like what Haku did to Zabuza..."

Naruto heart began to flutter, tears merged on corner of his eyes and his face morphed to hopeful and happy "R-Really?" He asked in pleading tone as if hoping Haru will say yes. And to his pleasure, Haru nodded with smile. He wiped the tears quickly and turned to Sasuke with happy face "I-I'm glad..."

"Me too, Naruto..." Haru responded with chuckle "You two really are troublesome. It seems I'll need to increase our training after this..." He said with slight grin before shook his head "Carry Sasuke, I will carry Haku..."

Naruto nodded happily before he went back to where the dome mirror was and approached unconscious Sasuke. Haru meanwhile carried Haku piggyback style and began to walk where Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting.

It wasn't long before he appeared and saw Zabuza that was captured by Kakashi dog and Kakashi himself had **Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)** formed on his hand, ready to strike Zabuza.

"Kakashi-san, Zabuza..." He called and both of them turned to him. Zabuza's eyes widened at the sight of Haku while Kakashi's eyes widened due to surprise at Haru's presence.

"You finally arrived? So the ninja reinforcement..."

"Has been dealt with... He escaped in the last moment, I got here as soon as I was done." Haru lied smoothly, he couldn't have them know he killed Aoi Rokushō after all.

Kakashi stared at Haru for a moment before nodded, he was actually impressed at the boy's skill. As expected from the one, who sent Genma to hospital and got tie with him.

"Aoi lost to the brat like you?!" Zabuza asked with slight shock "Either his skill is exaggerated or you are really good..." He muttered under his breath and he stared at Haru... No, he stared at Haku on Haru's back.

"She is just unconscious... I knocked her out after Naruto... Went berserk for a moment..." He said with slight pause and Kakashi's eyes narrowed, wondering if Haru does know about Kyuubu "Accept your defeat, Zabuza... Demon Brothers had died, Haku-san is defeated. Only you are left..."

Zabuza stared at Haru with narrowed eyes, he tried to move but the summon dogs' grip was still tight and wouldn't let him go. After a moment he closed his eyes and tilted his head upward, staring at the sky.

'So this is it, eh... Heh... I never thought this will be my end...' Zabuza chuckled inwardly before he glanced to Haku. He is going to die, it was clear. But Haku...

Naruto chose this moment to appear while carrying Sasuke. He immediately yelled and called his teacher "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Naruto?" Kakashi stared at his students and noted unconscious Sasuke. Seeing Kakashi's look, Naruto told him from afar that the Uchiha is only unconscious and fine much to Kakashi's relief.

"Kakashi..." Zabuza called and the silver haired Jonin turned back to him "Promise me you will let Haku live after this... She is not listed in bingo book neither has hunter nin after her..."

Kakashi and Haru showed surprised look. Both of them did not expect Zabuza will say such words especially Haru. If he recalled Zabuza shouldn't be this sentimental about Haku before talking with Naruto. What happened?

'Could it be... The sign that he finally surrendered?' Haru wondered inwardly. That seemed very logical, unlike in Cannon where Zabuza was still sure he could survive. Here he was not, it was clear there will be no one to come to help him and his situation was very bad. Maybe that's why he was able to accept his feelings to Haku slightly.

"I will..." Haru was the one to answer before Kakashi could. The Jonin of Team 7 turned to him, but Haru only glanced at Zabuza with stoic face "Don't worry, I promise... She will live through this..." Haru repeated.

"Good then..." Zabuza said before he closed his eyes.

"Raikiri!" Kakashi yelled as he dashed with electricity in his hand, Sharingan spinning, and with full intent to strike Zabuza.

No one noticed Haru's Sharingan activated as he stared at Kakashi that lunged at Zabuza.

SPLAAAT!

And with that, the life of **Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of Kirigakure)** ended...

Naruto seeing this was about to turn his head, but Haru's voice snapped him.

"Don't... This is the first step you are going to take to become ninja... You will see dead and many things like this, Naruto... Get accustomed..." Haru said in slightly stern tone and Naruto turned to him before glanced back at Zabuza.

"Hai..."

Kakashi pulled out his hand from Zabuza left chest and dropped the dead body on the ground, his Raikiri faded and he stared down at Zabuza before closed his Sharingan to preserve chakra.

"It's over..." Kakashi said.

As soon as he said that, the thick mist also started to dissipate and gone. Sakura and Tazuna now finally could see Kakashi and everyone.

"Kakashi-sensei! Naruto! Haru-san!" She called happily but her eyes widened when she saw unconscious Sasuke on Naruto's shoulder "Sasuke-kun!" She yelled in worry and immediately dashed to him.

"Sakura-chan! It's okay, Teme is only unconscious! He got put in the same state like Zabuza before!"

Haru only stared at Team 7 who reunited with impassive look. He let out sigh slowly and mentally began to count down.

"Haru!"

He turned and saw Genma and Yakumo also arrived, they were probably late because Yakumo was quite tired. Haru was also going with full speed in order to come here after all.

"I'm okay... It's over... We won..." Haru said with smile seeing Genma and Yakumo approaching.

"Is she not the fake hunter nin? Why are you carrying her?" Yakumo asked as she glanced to Haku.

"I... may promised Zabuza to make sure she will live after this?" Haru offered weakly made excuse, Genma and Yakumo stared at him like he just grew second head.

"What?! Why did you do that?! She's enemy, Haru! Why did you help her?!" Yakumo demanded.

"It was request from dying man! How could I ignore it?!" Haru retorted petulantly.

"That's still not excuse! You should-"

"She deserves second chance." Haru cut Yakumo with slight steel look making the girl pause "You don't know her story, Yakumo-san. So please don't judge her randomly like that..." He said in stern tone.

Yakumo was taken aback by Haru behaviour. To be honest this side of Haru was very rare to get out, the first time she saw it was when they were on the graduation test to become Backup Team.

Haru then turned to Genma, looking at him. The Tokubetsu Jonin stared back at Haru with calm face, his mouth already chewing new senbons. Before he could reply suddenly laughter echoed across the bridge. Students and teachers turned in unison, only to see a dense crowd of mercenaries arrayed on the unfinished end of the bridge. A boat was anchored off to the right, answering the question of how they had gotten there.

Gato was the one to laugh as he stared at the Konoha's ninja that were exhausted with amused look. He glanced at Zabuza and snorted "Some demon... For all his big words, he lost that badly." Shaking his head, he turned his glance towards Kakashi and Genma "I was hoping that you, shinobi, would kill each other off and save me the trouble and the money of getting rid of you. I guess he was just a cute little demon after all. Still, good work for getting rid of Zabuza for me." Kakashi's single opened eye narrowed dangerously hearing that, but Gato continued, "Normally, I would offer to pay you off so that you wouldn't interfere, but it looks like Zabuza and his little groups did some good nonetheless and managed to wear you out."

"Why you! I will kill you bastard!" Naruto yelled, but Kakashi grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't charge too fast! Look at their numbers!" Kakashi warned as he held Naruto from lashing out.

Naruto, who was still angry suddenly froze for some reason and slowly he tilted his head aside. Kakashi, wondering what the reason Naruto sudden gone silent, followed his head to see what was wrong, and his eye widened at what he saw.

It was Haru... The boy already dropped Haku to the ground.

But that not what made his eyes widen...

It was the boy's chakra...

The boy's blue chakra practically radiated out and it was shimmering in air, creating small breeze of wind around them. The boy's eyes shadowed by his sunglasses that he wore and his whole body was shaking.

'His chakra... It's... Strong... For someone at his age...' Kakashi was clearly shocked. He had seen many people, who possess strong chakra, and most of them are all grown up. To think this boy will possess it at his age...

"Genma-sensei..." Haru started, getting his teacher's attention, who was also staring at him the moment his chakra started shimmering out "I will go first..." He said coldly.

"Huh? Wait, Haru, seeing the numbers we need to-"

Whatever Genma said was promptly ignored as Haru dashed and kicked the ground. The boy speed was faster than usual and his chakra was slightly shimmering out from his body, on his way he grabbed Kubikiribōchō and dragged it with one hand. His speed became faster and had everyone look behind his sunglasses they would see his eyes were no longer black but crimson red with black ring and three tomoes.

The laugh and cheers from Gato group silenced the moment Haru charged to them. Gato shrieked, stumbling backwards in fear. "Hey!" He yelled, shaking the mercenaries out of their surprise "Kill those guys!"

"HARU!" Genma yelled before cursed "Kakashi, your group and Yakumo stay here. Leave it to me and Haru, we still have chakra and able to fight." He declared before also running and joining his student. The thugs immediately gave enthusiastic noises as they prepared their weapons, and they confidently prepared to meet the enraged charge of the lone Genin.

As Haru charged to the group, one man in front, armed with a large sword smirked.

"You fool! You are alone! What possibly single boy like you think could do against-"

SLICE!

The man wasn't able to finish his words as his head immediately soared upwards, separated from his neck by the Kubikiribōchō that Haru held.

Haru carved through the thugs with Kubikiribōchō. The large sword covered in flame that the reincarnated man channelled. He moved his sword in all directions: right, left, up, down, rotating... Every time he did that, screams of pain echoed and blood splattered to the ground like fountain.

His Sharingan has read all the guys movement. The weights he wore were already abandoned and he quickly moved, faster than any thugs could anticipate. All the ambushes or surprise movements failed due to his eyes predicting their movements, not to mention he was swinging the giant flaming sword that was capable of destroying most mercenaries weapons with one swing.

Part of his mind was briefly wondering, how could he be capable to go berserk like this? He could feel the muscles and bones in his arm strain due to carrying large sword like Kubikiribōchō, but his adrenaline erased all the pain.

Is this his Uchiha blood? The Curse of Hatred from his Uchiha blood? Is this why he gets stronger? Because he drowns himself in hatred?

He doesn't know anymore... All he know is, Gato must die...

Genma on his side also was not having hard time taking down the whole group. He may be exhausted but not at Kakashi's level, add Haru already healed him slightly before, he was more than enough to take down group of bandits by himself

All the ninja from Konoha save for Genma meanwhile openly froze seeing Haru's berserk state. The boy did not let out any roar or battle cry, his face was simply cold, very cold and impassive as if he was not even bother to kill them, as if he was not in middle of committing murder or taking someone's life. As if they were just group of insects that he trampled and done with it.

Naruto and Sasuke, who were already awake, were openly terrified. In their lives, they have never seen Haru like this. The older boy always appeared to be calm, smile in polite manner and sometimes even playful. They had seen Haru being angry, sure, but all of that is nothing compared to this... This massacre he did...

Kakashi, who was watching, knew well this scene. This scene was actually very familiar and happened often during the war, where when one shinobi went berserk or something like that. To think he will see it again in this era and from boy at that age is something that he never imagined.

Yakumo and Sakura were also clearly afraid. Yakumo stared at Haru with shock and disbelief as if she could not recognize Haru anymore, as if she was staring at berserker and not her teammate. Sakura never thought the boy that is always polite to everyone can commit such thing.

Tazuna also was, like everyone else, openly afraid and at same time shocked. The week he spent with Haru showed the boy is very mature, he knew that, but to think he will take lives like this openly…

Finally, Haru cut the last thug down. The boy was covered in crimson blood from face, cloth, pant, even hair. His sunglasses also were adorned by blood and the liquid was dripping from it as if he was crying blood.

He turned and saw Gato in corner of the bridge, trying to become as small as possible while shaking in fear. Haru threw away Kubikiribōchō before he blurred and in instant he appeared in the front of Gato.

The man shrieked at this and attempted to run away, but the boy already grabbed his shirt and brought him up to level of his face, forcing the businessman to stare into his eyes.

"Tell me, Gato..." Haru said in cold tone that echoed on the bridge "Do you know what your goons did in the village?" He demanded.

"N-No! I-I d-d-didn't-"

"DON'T FUCKING LIE TO ME!" Haru barked in front of him making the man shrieke again "Tell me the truth..."

Gato was practically to the point near piss on his pant now, tears emerged from corner of his eyes "I-I-I-I-I-I s-s-s-swear I'm not!"

Haru face gone back to impassive hearing that, his black eyes stared coldly at him as if were dark abyss "Then surely you know what your goons did to a few children in the village, right?" He asked coldly and he saw Gato shook his head quickly as if there were no bones in his neck.

BANG!

Without any words, Haru threw Gato to one of fences on bridge, creating crater and crack on it as sounds of Gato's broken bones could be heard and everyone silently winced at that.

"Haru I think that's-" Genma paused from approaching his student when Haru gave him a glare, the glare was so cold and the chakra he radiated was not helping.

"Sensei... Wait until I am done..." He stated before brushing off his arm "Then let me tell you, Gato..." Haru said as he approached the short man and lifted his bloodied face "I was helping one of beggar child in the village week ago. I gave them food and small money so they could survive..." Haru spoke as the memories flashed in his mind "I also played and taught them to study. After few hours they all thanked me..." Here he smiled softly before it was gone and replaced by pure stoic and impassive "Then they said they wanted to repay me. I jokingly asked how? And you know what they did?" He asked, but Gato couldn't answer him due to the pain.

BAAAANG!

"THEY STRIPPED AND TRIED TO SUCK MY DICK!" Haru yelled with anger and slammed the man face to the fence again making all ninja from Konoha paled and disgusted "THEY SAID THEY HAD TO DO THAT WHEN ONE OF YOUR GOONS CAME, YOU BITCH! AND WHAT'S WORSE?! FEW WERE NOT EVEN OLDER THAN 10 YOU SICK!" He roared while gesturing at the corpses around him before he slammed Gato again and this time, sounds of cracking bones could be heard by everyone "THOSE KIDS WERE RAPED BY YOUR GOONS! THEY DID NOT EVEN REACH PUBERTY! YOU TURNED THEM INTO WHORES! FEW WERE NOT EVEN 10 YEARS OLD CHILDREN, GATO! 10 YEARS OLD!"

'No wonder he is so angry...' Genma thought gravely as he also felt disgust at what happened and what Haru saw. If he was on Haru's place he would also go to throw tantrum and be angry, children, after all, are really protected in Konoha.

All ninja from Konoha also had similar thoughts. They all could feel anger mixed with disgust at the thought of 10 years old girl being turned into prostitute like that by Gato's goons. Tazuna lowered his head as he knew how dark his country's condition actually is and was sad Haru had to witness it.

Another slam and sound of Gato's body hit the ground echoed as Haru smashed the short man to the ground like some bag. He raised him again and stared at him coldly "You won't die, Gato, not that easy I assure you. People in this village want justice, and that..." He paused and glanced to the other end of the bridge "Is what you are going to get, justice..." He stated as he saw the group of people Inari gathered finally arrived.

"What the..."

The people that gathered only could express shock seeing the dead bodies that scattered on the bridge. Few of them even openly spew out their food, sure, they had lived in bad conditions, but they had never seen this many people killed!

Haru meanwhile smirked in glee, he then began to take steps forward while dragging the terrified Gato with him. As he approached them, he went past Konoha group, who only stared at him, each of them had expression mixed between sadness and fear.

Haru threw Gato to the group of people that Inari began to gather and flashed them smirk "Here's Gato... Trust me, I want to kill him, but wouldn't it be better if you all bring him to justice by your own?" He asked.

The people stared at Gato, who was, despite the pain he felt and broken body he had, trying to become smaller so he could hide from the crowd that began to express anger seeing him.

"Carry him to the village hall!"

"Torture him!"

"Cut his tongue!"

"Gouge out his eyes!"

"Cut his arms just like what he did to Kaiza!"

"No! P-Please n-no! P-Please!"

Gato shriek of fear and whimper soon got overwhelmed by the voices of the mob and they began to circling him.

Haru took step back and turned around, letting the mob to do their job. He stared at Konoha group and flashed them a smile, the warm one he always uses. He took one step forward before his eyes suddenly rolled upwards and his body slumped.

"Haru!" Naruto yelled in panic and he rushed to his friend that fell to the ground. He held his body and began to shake him "Oi! Haru! Oi!"

The ninja from Konoha immediately came to his side, save for Sasuke, who still weak due to being put in death-like state, with Sakura on his side.

"Kakashi..." Genma said and the silver haired Jonin nodded before he opened his left eye and stared down at Haru with Sharingan.

Sharingan, while mainly used in battle, can also be used for medical purposes. It is capable of checking someone's flow of chakra after all, and Kakashi could see Haru's chakra

"He is... Fine... There is no sign of serious wounds. However, he exhausted himself, his chakra is depleted. He won't be awake for two or three days if my guess is right." Kakashi reported as he closed his left eye and pulled down his forehead protector much to everyone's relieve.

"You idiot..." Naruto murmured with sigh as he stared down at Haru, he smiled softly and his eyes glanced to Haku for a moment before looking back at Haru 'Thank you... Haru-nii...'

The battle in Wave was finally over...

* * *

**The battle of this arc is finally done! So how is it?! How the battle?!**

**Few of you already guess that Haru used Genjutsu and you all right about that, kinda obvious I guess**

**Genma &amp; Yakumo vs Demon Brothers. I hope you all satisfied with the battle. As you can see I decide to give water affinity to Genma -thanks to uub for the suggestion for that-. Before you all protest, you must know Genma does talented in Ninjutsu. It was Cannon based seeing his databook stated his Ninjutsu is 4,5. Something that quite big you know, 5 is Kage level if I recall so 4,5 is strong enough**

**As for Yakumo bloodline name, hopefully you like it. Bloody Illusion sounds very fitting, wouldn't you all agree?**

**Haku being alive and Zabuza not. All the reason why will be revealed. You not need to ask and demand why, just think what going to happen with Haku! Will she join Konoha or will she go?! That was quite mystery you know! Depend on how you all wish for, maybe she could join to Konoha and again maybe not!**

**Haru anger to Gato. Well now you know why he angry so much. You all must know such thing is possible actually, and while I despise rape so much but that was necessary for Haku growth and how people around him interacted to him after seeing what he just did**

**Haru strong chakra. He's Uchiha, one of descendant of Rikudō Sennin, so it was just logical and seeing he also train so hard it shouldn't be surprise. And also we all know the more Uchiha drowned in hatred the more their chakra become strong**

**Haru second affinity, some people giving good argument. I was planning to make it into water. However there few who pointed Haru will be good in lighning too. So here the choice, either it will be water or lightning. Give me you all opinion and suggestion**

**Beta Reader. My friend currently editing the chapter, she got slight error and the data that she edit got erased so she have to rewrite it again so please be patient. As soon she done I will replace the chapter with the one that edited. For now please bear with bad grammar okay? X.X**

**Next chapter will be the aftermath of the battle, small celebration in Wave, Haku fate and return to Konoha!**

**Stay tune to find out the continuation! Please Favorite, Follow, Read and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	17. End of Mission, Return to Konoha!

**This chapter has been edited by Frouade! All the credits for better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 16. End of Mission, Return to Konoha!**

* * *

Pain...

That was the sensation I currently felt...

I don't know how long I'm in this darkness...

Weeks? Days? Hours? Minutes? I don't know... But one thing clear is my body hurts...

"He's waking up..."

Huh? That voice was... familiar...

I slowly moved muscles in my eyes and... suddenly, a ray of light appeared and shot into my eyes.

My response was, of course, to close my eyes again. After that darkness, it was just logical that my eyes were not used to the light that engulfed my sight.

Slowly, I opened my eyes again, at first, everything was blurred, only thing I saw was blur and the light still hurt my eyes. I dilated my pupils to make my vision better and it worked as everything started to clear.

"Mnghh..." I grunted as I opened my eyes widely and blinked to get accustomed to the light.

"Haru! Haru! You are finally awake!"

"Ugh!"

I groaned as suddenly heavy sensation hit my body and I winced slightly due to pain. What the heck?! What hit me?!

"Naruto, take it easy, Haru is still recovering."

I looked down and saw Naruto hugging me. The whiskered blond immediately released me, his face blushed slightly and he rubbed his head in sheepish manner as if he just got reprimanded by his teacher.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just..."

Kakashi only sighed at Naruto's action, but I could tell he was quite amused. I then noticed that I was back in the Tazuna's house, in the room there were only me, Naruto and Kakashi.

"Hey, Haru! You are okay already, right?" Naruto asked me.

"W-Water..." I croaked out and, to be honest, my throat was dry. Naruto, hearing me, immediately turned and took a glass of water not far from our position and gave it to me. I slowly pushed myself to sit and took the glass before gulping it down.

It was cold water... Ahh, nothing beats fresh cold water when you feel very thirsty!

"Thanks, Naruto..." I said as I handed back the glass and he grinned to me.

"Anytime! So, how are you feeling?" he asked me cheerfully and I couldn't help but smile hearing his voice, always loud and optimistic. You are really something, Naruto.

"I'm fine..." I answered him, however, I winced when felt painful sensation in my arms. "But, my arms are not..." I added as I felt my arms were almost like being pulled by something heavy.

"Well, that's logical. You carried Kubikiribōchō and wielded it like some berserker," Kakashi said to me while reading his book. "I'm surprised you actually could wield it, seeing you are smaller than the sword itself. Then again, you can crush rock with your bare fist. I guess your strength is quite something, eh...," he added with slight respect in his tone and I only blinked to him, my face remained impassive.

Ah... Yes... I remember it now...

Everything was blurred when I saw Gato the last time... I don't know what happened, but it was almost like a dream... Went berserk and brought Gato to justice... This is...

**You killed them all...**

It was silent... Very silent and barely could be considered as a whisper... And I don't know what it is... But it echoed in my head...

**You killed them all... You murderer...**

They deserved it... Look what those goons did to Ayane and her friends...

**You could pick the easier way... The one that is more humane.**

I didn't want to... They all deserved to die for what they did, they made people in this village suffer, after all, I'm not wrong here. I'm doing Justice...

**But it's wrong... Killing is wrong... You don't have right to commit such barbaric method... It is immoral!**

Maybe in my old World, but here that's not wrong... It is kill or be killed... That's the moral in this World... The strong eats the weaker.

After I said that in my mind, the voice was gone. I don't know exactly what was that, but my guess it was a remnant of consciousness from my old World...

Ever since I came to this World I began to think and formulate the plan... I know, this World is brutal... And I know no matter how much knowledge and everything else I have there will be a time I will fall if I won't harden myself...

That's why I always picked up challenges... I met Ibiki... I stood on Naruto's side, got glared by villagers along with him... Faced enemies in my young age... Because I want to prepare my mentality... I want to harden it to the point all my old moral code that was planted into my consciousness will be erased and replaced by this World's... Even if it is similar, there is so much of moral code from my World that I already changed and replaced...

Because if I am still going to hold morals from my old World... I will be dead... And that is something I'm not looking for...

Not when there is a chance I could become God in this World... It is dream of all Humans... To become a God... Even Adam and Eve wished to become like God and ate the forbidden fruit just so they could know what is right and what is wrong...

I will become God... And no one will stand in my way...

"Haru! Haru! HARU!"

I brought back from my mind when Naruto loud voice boomed at me. Turning to him, I saw he had worried look.

"Are you okay? You are kinda spacing out…," he asked and I only smiled.

"I'm fine... I just... No... Nevermind…," I said while closing my eyes. Naruto does not need to know what is on my mind... He doesn't need to get reminded of what he saw yesterday... Though, he will ask me about it later, I'm sure of that, but for now it is better if he doesn't. "Where is everyone?" I asked when I noticed Naruto was about to protest since I was not telling him, however, I could tell that Kakashi, at least, had a guess of what I was thinking.

"Sasuke is treated in another room, Sakura-chan and Yakumo gone to the village with Genma-sensei!" Naruto answered and I hummed.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days..." Kakashi was the one to answer and I blinked, that's long? "You collapsed due to chakra exhaustion, you let out too much chakra on the bridge while fighting the mercenaries."

"I see..." I said and I noticed Naruto stiffened on the mention of mercenaries, no doubt for a moment he remembered what he saw there "And... Haku?" I asked Naruto.

"Umm... Haku... She... Well..." Naruto fidgeted slightly and I narrowed my eyes. "She is fine... But she had locked herself... We also tied her up because she tried to kill herself and kinda went berserk too at first..."

Ah... I see... I must say I'm not surprise at that. For someone like her to lose purpose like that... That was to be expected... She will go berserk at first, of course, there is no way she going to accept it just like that...

"Where is she now?"

"We locked her in another room..." Naruto said, "I already tried to talk with her and, thankfully, she is not... trying to kill herself anymore, but she didn't speak or do anything last three days."

I furrowed my eyebrows at that. He talked with her? Hmm, wonder what he talked about, but if it calmed Haku, then it must be a good thing. And here I already prepared to make a speech for her.

"You are really a sly one, aren't you? Having crush on Haku now?" I teased with smirk and Naruto blushed.

"N-NO! I-I-It just! I-I-I! S-She-" Naruto paused and stopped when I exploded into laugh, Kakashi also let out amused chuckle. The blond face scrunched to pout and he glared at me "You are teasing me -ttebayo! You're a big meanie!"

His response only made me explode into bigger laugh, really, Naruto is very cute! "Oi! Oi! What with that response?! You sound like five years old child, who just got bullied!" I said while laughing and his glare now deepened, if look could kill I would be already unconscious.

"It's not like that -ttebayo! Stop laughing!" Naruto yelled in anger at us, but it just prompted us to laugh more. Eventually, he huffed his cheeks and grumbled before turning away from us and crossing his arm on his chest, exactly like a little child.

Naruto... Really... You...

"As amusing it is... I need to speak with Haru about the details when he fought with the ninja's reinforcement, Naruto, could you leave for moment?" Kakashi asked and ordered Naruto at the same time. The blond stared at him before looking back to me and then he nodded to Kakashi as he stood up and left.

There was silence in the room after Naruto left. Kakashi was still reading his book and did not even give me a glance, I only stared at him with impassive look. Even I know, while he did not look at me, but I am sure he was aware of my expression and there was slight tension created from our silence since…

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"You have Hyuuga girl after you, Kurama girl after you, and now you also saved abandoned girl… You are really Casanova, aren't you?"

And with that all the tension disappeared from this room.

I stared at Kakashi with deadpan look and if I was not in the bed now it was clear I was going to have my face hit the ground. Kakashi gave me his eye smile of amusement.

"I'm not becoming ninja to create a harem, Kakashi-san," I said in dull tone.

"Maa. But isn't that dream of all men? To have multiple women after their heart?"

"Tell that to Sasuke's fangirls, then, I'm sure it will make them more enthusiastic and happy to go after Sasuke."

"Fangirl and the girl that fall in love are different," Kakashi corrected me.

"Then, I must say, Yakumo-san is clearly not in love with me, Kakashi-san," I retorted. "Save for Hinata, I guess, however, we are still young and I am still not interested to form relationship."

Kakashi let out chuckle at my response, he seemed to be quite satisfied with my answer as he gave me a nod. Then, he closed his book and opened his eye again, this time I could see seriousness in his eye. He pulled out another book from his jacket and scrolled a few pages before showing it to me.

"Is this the man you fought?" he asked as he showed me a picture of Aoi. And at that time I was aware the book he held was Bingo Book.

"Yes... Aoi Rokushō that's him..." I admitted with nod and he hummed.

"This man is Jonin from Amegakure and holder of Raijin no Ken. You know that sword, right?"

"Of course, that man practically blabbered about how he is invincible due to that sword," I deadpanned. "Though, I admit, that sword was clearly irritating since none of my Ninjutsu worked due to that weapon. It even sliced my wind Ninjutsu like it was paper..." I continued with sigh as I recalled my fight with him.

"Well, that was legendary weapon owned by Nidaime Hokage. It was to be expected... And how did you beat him?" Kakashi asked, he did not seem trying to mock or insult me since there was no hint of disbelief in his tone. He was just simply curious about my fight.

"Genjutsu," I answered. "Aoi's skill is only Chunin or high Chunin. The only thing that made him Jonin is that sword, he doesn't need Ninjutsu and can defend against one with that sword. But facing Genjutsu is different..." I explained and it was true. Aoi's skill was not that great, in fact, our fight, probably, was only 10 minutes or less. All he did was only defend against me and it was always me, who went offensive.

That man was actually not that strong, especially when I activated my Sharingan. I could read all his movement with ease and to be honest, he was really that weak, the reason he won against Sasuke and Naruto in anime is only because Raijin. If he didn't possess that sword he would lose.

Fortunately for him in anime Naruto and Sasuke were not talented in Genjutsu. And unfortunately for him here, I am quite talented in Genjutsu, thanks Yakumo for that, with Sharingan I silently saw how she performed Genjutsu and copied it then edited it into my own version.

"Hmm, if Ninjutsu and close fighting are not working then use Genjutsu, eh... But still, to trap Chunin in Genjutsu and while you are still Genin... That is impressive..." Kakashi remarked and praised at the same time.

"Having Kurama clan Heiress as your teammate is very useful in training of Genjutsu art," I responded. "Besides..." I paused and slight smirk adorned my face, "We all know that I'm not normal Genin…" I said with small amusement in my tone and I could tell Kakashi also smirked beneath his mask.

"You are quite blunt, aren't you? Oh well, I guess that to be expected... Konoha didn't have many prodigies like you, the last one went rampage and killed his whole clan," Kakashi replied while closing the Bingo Book, "And what happened to Aoi?"

"I wounded him quite bad, sliced off his left arm. He tried to escape afterwards, I was thinking about going after him, but I remembered you all may need my help and thankfully I chose to go to you all."

"Yes, I heard from Genma that your arrival was just in time when they were about to get hit by Demon Brothers' attack. It was right decision to pick your comrades rather than enemy..." Kakashi said as he gave me nod of respect and praised me slightly, "Well, I guess, that's all I needed to hear..." He stated as he stood up and turned to door, yet he stopped when he was in front of it, "About what happened on the bridge..."

"I have no regrets..." I said firmly while putting my impassive look again, "Those goons raped and destroyed the purity of children. I have no regrets," I stated while crossing my arms and gave look to Kakashi that dared him to accuse me as the one, who is wrong.

Kakashi only stared at me with calm look. His lone eye bored into my eyes and I couldn't decipher his expression due to his mask but I still could tell he did not think what I did was wrong.

"Are those people your first kill?" he asked after a moment of silence.

No... "Yes... Yes, they are... But I feel no regrets, in fact, I am quite satisfied my first kill are those people..." I answered him and he gave me another stare.

"Well... If you are thinking so, then..." Kakashi responded after moment of silence. "And one more thing... You know about the Kyuubi, aren't you?" he asked- no. It more like he stated and I nodded, admitting it.

"I know, it was very obvious. I found it out when I was 10 years old, I already questioned about it and accidentally I heard some people in alley blabber about it... Something about 'Kyuubi brat' or thing like that," I said while rolling my eyes and Kakashi lone eye darkened.

"Do you remember the ones, who talked about it? The voices or the appearances?" he asked.

"Sadly, no... But it was man, why?"

"There is a law that forbids people to talk about it in public. Seeing you know about it from that man, then he will be punished severely. Depending on how he would defend himself, he could be sentenced to death," Kakashi told me in stern tone and I only narrowed my eyes. Small silence appeared again for a moment before being broken by Kakashi, who was clearing his throat and nodded, "Well... I guess, that's all... I will take my leave... Feel free to rest again," He said before he turned and left.

I only stared at Kakashi's leaving silhouette with impassive look. I know, he has something on his mind about me but he did not voice it. It seems, I have to be more careful from now on, I can't let my emotion take control of me like a few days ago

I then moved my arm and winced due to pain. It hurt, but it was still bearable, I think, it will take one day before I will be back to my normal condition.

Sounds of doorknob caught my attention and I turned to it. The door opened again and revealed that it was Yakumo. Her eyes widened slightly and soft smile graced her face.

"Haru..." She greeted softly and I blinked once before smiling to her.

"Yakumo-san..." I greeted back with the same tone.

She approached me and sat on my side.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm not the one that resting in bed now..."

"Touche..."

She let out soft giggle at my response and I only rolled my eyes. She can be annoying sometimes, but well, that what makes Yakumo different from Hinata, she can become quite blunt and also harsh. Kinda like a spoiled princess that loves to criticize.

To be honest, the only girl that I often talk with is Hinata. I'm not too close to any other girl at my age. My relationship with Ino and Sakura could be considered a friend but not quite close.

There was comfortable silence in the room as Yakumo and I paused our conversation. She was staring at me while I only looked out of the window and saw the birds chirping on the tree.

"Haru..."

Yakumo called me, her voice was low and quite weak. Something caught my attention as I turned to her again.

"Yes?" I asked.

"On the bridge... I... Actually was afraid of you..." she murmured and my eyes widened. "To be honest... I'm not bothered by it, I know, being Shinobi means to walk with death as constant companion... But..."

"It's okay..." I cut her and she stared at me with wide eyes. "I know you were afraid of me and it is normal. We all are still young, to see someone committing massacre like what I did... Even I am also scared of myself sometimes..." I said in bitter tone.

"Haru..."

Yakumo face softened slightly after that. I could tell she seemed to understand my words and accepted it.

"But does that matter? I won't hurt you, Yakumo-san. You may need to be afraid of me, but you don't need to be afraid that I am going to attack you, Yakumo-san, because you are my friend," I finished with a grin.

The response is like what I predict, Yakumo's face adorned by blush and she averted her face to hide it. I found it quite adorable.

"S-Saying s-something like that..." Yakumo murmured. "You are really Casanova, aren't you?"

"Eh? What do you mean by that? I didn't say something strange, did I?"

Yakumo stared at me with slight scowl, the blush was still there as if she was annoyed. But the scowl turned into slight smile.

"At least you are still the person I know... Next time if you are going to do something like that, wait for me..." Yakumo said and I tilted my head before smiling.

"Well, I trust you to cover my back next time then," I stated with a grin.

Sorry, Yakumo, to play your feeling like this, but I don't want to reveal _that_ side of me more to you... At least not until I am sure you will be my ally in the future...

"Anyway, Haru," Yakumo coughed slightly and her blush was back for some reason. "There will be a small celebration held by the village due to death of Gato and also their freedom. The village decided there will be festival in the next few days..."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "But what about their economic condition?"

"Well, apparently, Gato's hideout got crowded by the mob. And there were so much food and drinks in there. The village took them all and its numbers are actually large enough to hold a festival, so..."

"I see..." I murmured in understanding. "That's logical seeing Gato's hideout is a place where many his hired goons lived too..." I said with a nod. "And his money?"

"After they were done with Gato, people in Wave took over his company..." Yakumo responded. "Currently, Wave has enough money to make this country back to how it was before, they just need time, but..." she slightly scowled. "The money on that hideout got stolen..."

"Stolen?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah... There was more than half billion money there. While it is not all the money Gato has, that was still large sum. We assume it were remnants of Gato's thugs that took it and left from Wave after what you did..." Yakumo explained to me and I hummed. "A-Anyway!" Yakumo's blush was back again as she stared at me, she coughed a few times before continuing, "S-Since there will be festival held. I want to ask you to accompany me there..."

I blinked openly this time and I also showed surprised look. Did she just ask me to go on date with her? I know, I shouldn't be surprised, it was Yakumo. She is blunt and even proposed to me when I just passed graduated test with her, but...

"Not mean to reject, but... I do not think it is a good idea. Remember, we still have mission to-"

"Tazuna-san is also taking day off. The bridge will be done soon thanks to Naruto and his clones' help so we got free day."

"But what about everyone? Naruto and-"

"They will all also come, not need to worry. Sasuke-san's body is still weak, but he will be able to walk on the festival..."

"Well... I didn't bring any good cloth to wear and neither you did and every-"

"Already taking care," Yakumo cut me again. "I paid one of tailors here to make kimono for you and me, and it will be done before the festival, so no need to worry! Naruto and the others also have their own kimono already prepared," she stated smugly and the expression never changed ever since the first time I started trying to decline.

She is really adamant about this, isn't she? And she acts like a shy girl when tries to ask me? Really, she just won't take "no" as answer, will she?

Hinata, I really wish it was you who were here...

"B-But, if you don't want to go it's fine!" Yakumo said in slightly sad tone and there was light blush on her face. "I understand if-"

"Okay, I won't go," I cut her in flat tone.

Yakumo, who heard that, immediately gawked, clearly she did not expect my response to be like that. What? As much as I find Yakumo and Konoha Rookie 9' girls attractive I'm not interested in romance! For God's sake, I am still 12 in this body!

Though, I know I will have problems later controlling my hormones when the time comes. And, to be honest, I already did, but thankfully, it was Hinata. The girl won't dare to do anything bold, I just know it. While she is quite OC already due to my influence, but she is still the same sweet and innocent girl she were in Cannon.

But with Yakumo...

"You were not supposed to decline!" she said with irritation in her voice, even the tone she used was close to indignant squeak.

"And why not?" I deadpanned.

"It's just wrong!" she stated with slight pout. "I-I mean, if lady is asking you to go with her and she already prepared everything, you should go!"

"I never asked in the first place..."

"That is still not the excuse! You can't decline me just like that!"

Is she _really_, _**REALLY**_ asking me to date? This is not how you ask someone to date you, woman! This is more like FORCING someone to date you!

"Fine, I will go with you..." I sighed openly while shaking my head and I could see Yakumo practically beamed at that.

"Then it's settled!" she said with firm nod and smile while I only rolled my eyes, really, this woman.

Wait... Something is off...

"You hired tailor to make kimono for me, right?" I asked and she nodded. "Yakumo-san... ... Please tell me, how could you know my measurement?" I asked again in tone that said 'please don't tell me you peek at me'.

Yakumo immediately blushed at my question, she coughed several times to hide it, but that only increased the blush that adorned her face.

"Of course not!" she said with dignified manner like proper clan heiress. "I'm Heiress of Kurama clan! There is no way I would peek at you!" she stated firmly. "At least not until we live together..."

I clearly didn't know how to reply to the last comment, seriously. So, I decided to ignore it and only closed my eyes while sighing.

"Then how do you know my measurement?"

"Ah, that's simple. I was the one who undressed you when you were unconscious..." Yakumo answered with straight face and in nonchalant tone.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Slowly and snakingly, I raised my blanket and covered my whole body again... It's official... I have to find a candidate to turn my team into full team in order to not get molested by Yakumo... Again...

Hinata, I really, really, could use your presence now. And I MEAN IT! THIS WOMAN SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME!

I know, it sounds cliché and annoying, but if you were in my position you would say it anyway.

I DID NOT SIGN TO BECOME SHINOBI FOR THIS!

* * *

"How is he, Kakashi?" Genma asked Kakashi, who just entered the living room and sat.

"He is fine, his chakra is already restored and tomorrow he will probably be able to walk and do the normal activity..." Kakashi answered.

Genma, hearing that, was not satisfied, instead, he scowled. "You know what I meant is not that."

Kakashi kept silence. He knew what Genma asked actually. The Tokubetsu Jonin was asking about Haru's mental condition, not his physical body. Kakashi himself had treated the boy, he may not be a medic nin, but as former ANBU he knew how to perform emergency treatment and the jutsu itself.

"To be honest, Genma..." Kakashi tone was solemn, something that made Genma wary, "Your boy... He scared me..."

Genma merely furrowed his eyebrows while chewing the senbon in his mouth. "So he did that to you, huh..." he said in tone that contained understanding. "You are not the only one, who was intimidated by him, Kakashi..."

"Genma, there is no one who could be calm like that after their first kill. Even people from ROOT are disturbed, no matter how much they try to hide it, but it still disturbs them. First kill is always the hardest, after all..." Kakashi spoke in grim tone and it was true. No matter how Danzo tries to erase the emotions, when ROOT members do their first kill they always show emotions even if only a little. "But that boy... He did not show any sign being disturbed... That's not normal, Genma... There is a big chance that Boy is actually lying, but even if he is lying..."

For Kakashi, killing all those thugs was okay, because he was already used to it during the war. He is capable to do that without much problem, because he accustomed to it, but... For someone at Haru's age... And in this peaceful era...

"Now you understand what Sandaime-sama saw..." Genma stated and Kakashi nodded in understanding.

That boy reminded Kakashi of Orochimaru too much... However, there was something that made him feel more wary to Haru than Orochimaru... There was something... Something about Haru that gave a bad vibe to him.

"That Boy... He can be so unforgiving..." Kakashi muttered grimly and Genma nodded in agreement. "Can you tell me more about him, Genma?" He asked, sincerely curious but also cautious.

"... ... That kid is messed up... Even Ibiki Morino admits that child gives him a bad vibe," Genma said and if Kakashi was surprised he did not show it, but clearly the news shocked him.

Ibiki Morino, the scariest Tokubetsu Jonin and Chef of T&amp;I Konoha Division intimidated by a BOY?!

"Do you know why he befriended Naruto at the first time?" Genma asked and Kakashi shook his head. "According to Sandaime-sama, Haru wanted to study Naruto..." His statement made Kakashi' eye widen. "He was curious of Naruto... He wanted to know why Naruto was treated badly..."

"In other words he treats Naruto like an object," Kakashi said with slight anger in his tone and Genma solemnly nodded.

"However, during his observation it seems Naruto have won Haru's heart. Haru became his friend genuinely and came to care for him in honest way. The rest you see it until now..." Genma said and Kakashi couldn't help but smile softly under his mask.

'Naruto really has that aura, isn't he? Just like his parent...' Kakashi thought with chuckle inwardly.

"But still... He befriended Naruto because..."

"According to Sandaime-sama it was pure curiosity. Since there is no way Haru really meant to treat Naruto like an object experiment. Apparently, Haru got amnesia when he was two years old, and after that his perspective of the World changed. He just became... Curious... Too curious, in fact, for his own good..." Genma told his fellow Shinobi with calm look. "And the last person who possessed curiosity like that is-"

"Orochimaru..." Kakashi finished grimly and Genma nodded in agreement. Kakashi let out sigh before pinching bridge of his nose and he opened his single lone eye, it contained seriousness that Genma could only see when he was on high level mission, "Keep an eye on him, Genma... I am warning you... I know the possibility of that boy going rogue is actually close to non-existent, seeing he has strong bonds with his friends, but the chance is still there and if he does..." Kakashi didn't bother to continue as Genma already gave him stern look of his own.

If that boy went rogue, then there would be a big chance they will have second Itachi or Orochimaru out there... or worse... mixture of both of them.

"Let just see how things will be going, Kakashi... I believe in Haru, despite him being actually dangerous... He still can show compassion and kindness after all, he also has sense of justice seeing he went berserk due to what Gato goons did to the children in this village," Genma said and Kakashi nodded, knowing what Haru did a few days ago was quite heroic.

The boy still has his moral code at least and he also appeared to be capable of showing humane side. That what made Kakashi to not go to the Hokage's office and demand Sandaime to have Haru watched by ANBU every week.

Privacy be damned, Konoha can't have another Orochimaru going rogue!

* * *

It was already one day ever since I woke up. You all must know it felt nice to able to stretch your muscle again, having your body feeling limp and having to rest sucks, I tell you. The feeling was like you have something itching under your skin, but no matter how you scratch it the feeling is not going away!

That was very annoying...

I already visited Sasuke and had a small talk with him. He was not like Naruto to be afraid or hesitate, he was quite blunt and immediately asked. I gave similar answer as to Kakashi but softer since he still was a child.

And to my relieve, Sasuke seemed to understand and accepted it with ease. It was because he had seen many deaths in the same time before, and ironically it happened to him with his whole family got killed. So, he understood what I did was based on justice and it did, and much to my further glee if Sasuke would find out Itachi really did kill the clan by himself, then he will murder Itachi in the name of justice not vengeance.

That was very good... Now, my influence on Sasuke is very strong... Stronger than Itachi himself, I dare to say...

All other things aside, right now I have to face another problem...

I stare at the door while taking deep breath. This far everything had gone smooth... The plan I formulated for this arc is perfect... I just need to make sure I play my part right...

I extended my hand and grabbed the doorknob then twisted it. The wood groaned as I pushed the door and entered the room. The room was simple... Just bed in the corner, a cupboard for cloth, small table on the other side with food and glass of water placed on it.

All in all, it was simple civilian room... Nothing special...

Save for one area, where girl currently sat, staring outside through window.

"Haku-san..." I called.

I saw Haku's body stiffened when I called her. Slowly, but sure she turned to me and I could see the difference in this Haku and the one I saw a few days ago.

A few days ago, if you ask me, I could describe Haku almost looking like an angel. Her pale skin is perfect contrast with her long black hair and dark-brown eyes, her skin is also smooth, her face is beautiful and her figure is also healthy. To be honest, I was surprised, giving her status as ally of missing nin I expected her figure to be quite rough, but instead it was the opposite.

And if you ask me now, the Haku in front of me now... Is nothing more than shell of herself. Her pale skin is no longer perfect contrast with her black hair, instead it became slightly paler almost like pale of sick person. There were dark marks under her eyes and mark of dried tears, indicating she had lack of sleep and often cried. Her figure also seemed smaller... All in all, she was not the same person I met in the forest or on the bridge.

"Haru-san..." she called, her soft voice was dry. She probably did not drink much.

And to think Naruto said her condition was worse two days ago...

"Your throat is dry... Please drink..." I said as I took the glass and gave it to her.

She silently accepted the glass I gave. She stared at it for a moment before slowly brought it to her lips and drank it.

"Feeling better?" I asked as I saw she finished the water.

"A little..." Haku answered and I smiled before taking the glass and placing it on the table.

There was a silence in the room as I stared at her and she looked down on the floor, refusing to meet my gaze. The silence remained for a few minutes and I didn't bother to start talking first since I knew it was her, who was really looking for this meeting. I just needed to wait until she finishes preparing herself.

"Why?" Haku started, her voice was weak and soft. Why? Why I saved her. Even if she did not voiced it, but I could read her mind.

"Because I wanted to..." I answered simply.

"But why? There must be another reason!" she said and she raised her eyes to meet mine for the first time ever since I entered this room.

I kept silence before my hand moved to my chest on my tracksuit. I pulled out some letter and held it in my arm.

"The first time I met you in the forest, I already knew you are not a normal person..." I stated before raising my hand and rubbing my right cheek. "No normal person could slap that strong, you know?" I smiled slightly, trying to make a joke, but Haku only stared at me with blank look. Deciding joking won't light the mood I continued, "So, I followed you to your base. Silently, and I managed to catch a glimpse of Demon Brothers. In that moment I knew you are Zabuza's allies... Possibly, the ones that are responsible for rescuing him, seeing you have knowledge about medical herbs since it takes medic to turn someone to death-like state," I explained and paused so she could process what I said.

"I'm not stupid to plan to attack you in your territory, so I waited until you all will come for us. And after I fought with Aoi Rokushō I sent couple Kage Bunshin to your base, my plan was to find something that may be useful to fight you all. However, to my surprise, I found this letter."

Haku stared at the letter in my hand and I gave it to her. She slowly took it and unfolded it before her eyes widened.

"This is... This is Zabuza-sama's writing..." she murmured in shock.

"Read it..." I said and she immediately did.

As I stared at Haku, who was reading the letter, I saw her expression change to shock, surprise, happiness, and there was sadness too -probably due to missing Zabuza-. I kept waiting until she was done and when she did, the letter slipped from her hand and she covered her mouth.

Tears emerged from her eyes before she let out choking sob. I slowly stood up and began to hug her, placing her head on my chest I started to rub her back.

"Sshh, sshh. It's okay... It's okay... It's okay... Let it out... Let it out... Don't worry, you are not alone anymore. You are not unneeded anymore. You are wanted person. Just let it out, Haku-san..." I murmured softly as I began to comfort her, who was now crying on my chest.

The cry contained mixture emotion of sadness, grief, guilt and despair. Yet, it also contained happiness, relieve, glee and satisfied feelings. I only kept murmuring soft comfort words in her ear and let her cry.

It was quite long, but she eventually stopped crying and calmed down. She now slept while resting her head on my chest, no doubt exhausted. However, when she slept this time I could see a difference in her.

This time, her face was slightly brighter and she seemed to not be under depression anymore. She was... satisfied... That was the right word, I guess... Satisfied that she seemed to find the final clue for what she is going to do.

I then raised and carried her in bridal style to her bed. After that, I placed her softly and put blanket over her. The letter of last Zabuza's words still clutched in her arm as if it was something she held dear so much.

I looked at Haku for a moment and smiled before my gaze turned to the letter. I only shook my head before turning around, she will need rest and time to think what her decision will be. I already played my part well and it's just matter of time before I can reap the fruit.

* * *

"Woaahhh! This is cool!" Naruto exclaimed with awe like a child, who just saw a Christmas, as his eyes latched to the festival in front of us. The blond was wearing orange mixture with blue kimono, there Uzumaki was crest on the back of his kimono.

"Naruto, don't be so loud! People staring at us!" Sakura chided lightly. She was wearing red kimono with pink flower decoration, she also had her hair turned to bun and one of her bangs framed down. If I recalled correctly she looked exactly like the one when she was in Naruto Opening video. What the music called again? FLOW - Go? Yeah, something like that, I guess.

Sasuke on Naruto's side meanwhile was wearing dark and white colored kimono with Uchiha crest on his back. He was still not back at 100%, probably only 30%, but it was enough to allow him walk and do normal activities.

Genma and Kakashi were not wearing formal suit, they wore their Konoha Jonin/Chunin flak jacket. They said they preferred their normal outfit rather than us.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said sheepishly and rubbed his backhead. "It was rare for me to see festival, so..."

Sakura openly frowned at that, her face displayed mixture between confusion and slight surprise, "But doesn't Konoha have one? You know, 10th October..."

Naruto stiffened at that and I noticed Sasuke, Kakashi and Genma gave slight look to Naruto. Sasuke still didn't know about the Kyuubi, but Kakashi and Genma did.

October 10th... Yeah, there is a festival being held and at the same time it also mourning due to death of Yondaime. For the normal children that day is actually fun, not to mention the festival is quite large. Konoha is a very big village, after all, the size of the village could rival New York city if you ask me. So when they hold something special, you could imagine how big and cheerful it is.

However, for Naruto, that was clearly a bad day. I still remember when I accompanied him to the festival, we got yelled and banished away from one shop. The atmosphere and glares during that day at Naruto also worse than usual.

So it was only logical if we did not go to the festival. Sasuke, I and Naruto usually stayed at Uchiha Compound. We three are orphans and don't have family members to company us, so we only make a small celebration for Naruto's birthday in Uchiha Compound.

"Well! I mean, the festival is too big! I practically couldn't see anything and mostly only see people sell food!" Naruto said quickly as he tried to cover his secret, "I never see many things included into one like this!"

That was the weak lie... It was very obvious and Sakura clearly was not buying it as her scowl deepened. Seeing Naruto had a hard time, I decided to interfere.

"Let's talk about that later," I interjected as I stepped forward between them. "Why don't we enjoy the festival now?" I said as I tried to help Naruto, the blond beamed at me with big grin.

"Yeah! Let's go around! Teme! Sakura-chan! Let's go!" he yelled as he dashed to random direction.

"Oi! Naruto! Wait! Mou! That boy! Wait!"

Sakura began chasing her friend, Sasuke only shook his head before began to slowly walk and followed them from behind. I turned to Kakashi and Genma, the latter gave me eye smile.

"Well, I guess we are going to leave too. We, adults, have something to take care after all, enjoy your date," Kakashi said and my eyebrow twitched.

"It's not a date!" I retorted.

"Well, your outfit speaks otherwise." Genma snorted and my eyebrow let out another twitch. "Don't come home too late. I don't want my little Genin to become parent before me." His statement made Yakumo on my side blush slightly and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry, Sensei, we won't get into that stage," Yakumo said before I could reply. However, I swear, I could hear she murmured 'Not yet' under her breath and something about 'After becoming Chunin...'

This girl... Really... I don't know what to say... I only sighed and stared at her. With unamused look.

Yakumo was not wearing purple colored outfit but instead the one like her shinobi attire, it was purple kimono with sunflower decoration and yellow sash that tied the kimono. The clip on her bang was also released and part of her hair that was braided is combed down. She let out her hair flow out and waving gently.

I must say she is not looking bad, in fact she is a beauty. She was what you could say someone from royal family, just like Hinata.

Me? Believe me it was annoying to me and I knew she will try things like this, and sadly there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was wearing purple kimono too, but the model, of course, was different. It was for man! Under the kimono coat I was wearing red fabric, followed by black hakama that was tied with black sash.

And dear God, the most annoying part there is a crest of Kurama clan on my back... You don't know how it also annoys Naruto and Sasuke. And Sakura practically seems supporting us!

Really... This girl...

Hinata, where are you when I need you? *sob*

"Well, enjoy your two' time!" Kakashi said before he gave mock salute and left with Genma. Not long after they left I turned to Yakumo, who was staring at the festival

"So... Where do you want to go?" I asked.

"Let's take a look around first. We will play small game..." she answered and I nodded. She then tugged my sleeve and slipped her arm on mine.

"You know, I'm not interested in relationship, right?" I asked again, deciding to the point, "Why are you so adamant about this anyway?"

Yakumo only kept silence at my question, she didn't meet my gaze and only griped my arm further. "I have my own reason..." she murmured. "Let's go..." she said as she started to pull me.

I only sighed and let her drag me. It's not like she will stop her mind anyway, best just let it flow and never show interest in her. I can be asshole and openly reject her, but we are teammates, and I can't have her become vengeful on me. Not until she and I work separately at least.

Besides, who am I to deny the request of beautiful girl? Might as well enjoy it even if it only little.

As we began to walk, I clearly did not notice the whisper and lovestruck expression from the girls around us. Nope, I didn't. I didn't know what they whisper or did. And even if I did, I don't want to know what underwear they were wearing and how they want to tie me and ask me to date and how they plan to disturb Yakumo to have me for themselves

Nope... I did not hear any of that... And I swear I did not see some woman, who looks twice older than me, just flash me part of her cleavage.

Nope... I didn't... I was only whistling and enjoying the festival, lalalala. Oh my, is that deer far there? And it got chased by group of lions, hopefully Mr/Ms deer will survive.

Yeah... I am pretty much in denial, but at least that is what keeps me sane from what I currently experience.

"Haru..."

Voice of Yakumo broke me out from my lalala land and I turned to her, who had slight scowl.

"What, Yakumo-san?"

"You seemed dazed before," Yakumo remarked. "What were you thinking about?"

"I was just thinking how romance life in this World working," I answered flatly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," I said quickly and the tone I used clearly spoke 'Please don't ask anymore, it really bothers me'. Thankfully, Yakumo picked the tone and she slowly gave me nod.

"If you say so... Why don't we check that place?" she asked as she pointed to one game shop and I nodded.

"If you say so, let's go..."

Might as well try my best not to think about anything and go along with the flow now... That is definitely better than thinking about how romance and love work in here.

* * *

A few days later.

"We finally finished the bridge thanks to all of you..." Tazuna said with smile of gratitude to us. "If it weren't for you, we can't imagine what would happen to our country…"

"Be well on your journey, okay?" Tsunami added with soft smile. To be honest, Tsunami was beautiful, if only I was at my original age I would agree to take her to date *sigh* why all good things must be unreachable sometimes?

"Well, we also thank you for everything. Especially, the festival last time," Kakashi said with eye smile.

"Now, now. Tazuna-oji-san, we will visit you again sometime! Wait for us, okay?!" Naruto grinned to them all.

"Promise?" Inari asked, I could see the tears practically merged already in the corner of his eyes. It seems Inari and Naruto became close like in cannon, good thing anyway.

Ah this scene... Now I remember...

"Inari..." Naruto called with soft tone, I noticed the boy also had his eyes watering. "You are going to lonely again, aren't you? You can cry, you know. Just cry," Naruto said.

"I'm not going to cry! You can cry too, Naruto-niichan!" Inari retorted, okay, this time I clearly could see liquid dripped from his nose.

"Is that so..."

I only shook my head in amusement seeing these two. Really, even if I already had watched it in anime, but this actually quite funny to see. Especially both of them now had their lips quivering and their nose mucus dripping down.

"See ya!" Naruto said immediately and he turned around.

"Eh?!" Inari appeared to be about calling him but stopped himself.

And when both of them were crying, I didn't bother to hide my snicker. Really, watching it directly is better than watching it in anime. You have to see it by yourself.

We then began to walk away leaving from Wave. We didn't seem to be in a hurry as we only walked in slow and relaxed manner.

Sakura and Yakumo were talking about something. Those two became quite close, if I recall Sakura wanted to take lesson in Genjutsu with Yakumo seeing she has good chakra control too.

Genma and Sasuke were talking about each other. It seems Sasuke was very interested about Tokubetsu Jonin position and wanted to know more. Dunno why though, Kakashi only read his book while walking.

And Naruto...

"Hey... Haru..." Naruto suddenly called me and I blinked.

"Yes?" I noticed his tone was strange and it was clear he was very bothered.

"Haku said... Shinobi is nothing but a tool... Her life devoted to Zabuza, who was devoted to a village like a tool... Does it mean..."

Ah... So that is still bothering him, eh... No wonder he seemed a little too quiet. I still didn't have a talk with him and due to Zabuza's death he didn't talk with Kakashi about his ninja way.

"What Zabuza said is actually not wrong entirely..." I said, I could tell everyone gave their attention to me now, "Shinobi live to serve their village, that is absolute. We are warriors, we are tools, we are soldiers, we live to serve our village. That idea even exists in Konoha, not just Kiri or other village but all villages," I stated with distant look as I stared at the road in front of me.

"Do you really think so?" Naruto asked in bitter tone and I nodded.

"I am... However, there is a difference about us... Even if we are tools and soldiers, but we are also living beings. It is also absolute and unchanged, and we can't be forced to serve some place, which holds different ideals from our own, it will only cause pain and misery to ourselves. As Humans we will wish for happiness, for things that bring smile to our face and we can't have that if we are forced to follow something we don't like. The result of the people who don't like it and fighting will be ninjas like Zabuza, who became missing-nin."

My mind flashed to Zabuza, Orochimaru, Kakuzu and another missing-nin, who abandoned their villages due to not agreeing with their village ideal.

"Then, what it means to be Shinobi? We can't erase our desire for happiness completely and we also don't want to suffer, yet we are called tool. But a tool shouldn't be capable to feel like that… Then, what is our way? What is our goal? What is the meaning of our lives? That... Is something you can't answer just by yourself, because each person has difference opinion. Good thing in your eyes could be considered bad in another's eyes..." I told Naruto, who stared at me with astonishment. I smiled to him before raised my hand and patted his head, making him close his eyes as I began to ruffle his hair. "So... What I can say is... Just become Shinobi with your own ideal, no need to be so hardheaded. Just follow your path... And what path you wish to follow, is something that you have to decide by yourself, my brother," I finished with a grin as I removed my hand from Naruto's head.

Naruto stared at me with awestruck expression. His blue eyes were wide before slowly grin morphed on his face.

"Yosh! If Haru said so!" he shouted with enthusiasm. "Then it's decided! I'm going to follow my own ninja way!" he declared boldly to everyone present. "I'm going to run straight down the path where I'm not going to regret anything! Ttebayo!"

I, hearing that, simply smiled. Naruto, you really have grown... It had been years since we met and I entered this World... Despite what future holds for us, I can't help but feel glad for you.

I then noticed everyone stared at me with the same awe face. Sasuke only smirked at me but the smirk contained small smile. Genma and Kakashi also did the same, Yakumo clearly looked at me with pure respect and adoration and Sakura... She... I couldn't decipher what was her expression. It was mixture of fear and awe... Something that was strange.

Suddenly, my senses flared as I felt familiar chakra waiting for us. I tilted my head forward and narrowed my eyes, so she finally decided it, eh...

Apparently, my changed behaviour was noticed by Genma and Kakashi, who were asking me what is wrong.

"Someone is waiting for us..."

At that the relax tension seemed to be gone and replaced by slight seriousness as everyone began to glance at each other.

"Are you a sensor too?" Genma asked in surprise.

"You didn't know?" I asked back in slight surprise too. "I thought you already knew. That's how I find you all, I'm not good like real sensor nin, though. But at least I can use it..." I said and he hummed.

"We will have to talk more about this, for now, who is waiting for us?"

"Don't worry, not an enemy. Just keep going..." I reassured as I kept walking. Everyone stared at me with unsure gazes, but they followed me because I casually walked like nothing has happened.

It wasn't long before we saw the person waiting for us. The person that was waiting for us had gone the moment she calmed enough, she said she needed time to be alone to find her path.

Her outfit was still the same as when she fought us, save for the giant sword that was latched on her back. The legacy of the person that she held dearly. She also didn't wear her mask and her forehead protector was also gone.

"You are..." Kakashi narrowed his eye while staring at her.

"Haku..." I breathed out as I stared at the girl.

Haku only stared at us with calm look, no one could decipher what she was thinking, not even me. Though, I already knew what she wanted to say and why she was here, I already planned this ever since the beginning after all. Haku then opened her mouth and began to speak.

* * *

**Okay! The aftermath of Wave mission is appear! As you can see this chapter contain how Haru feels and how people around him feel!**

**Let be logical here, no matter how heroic Haru kill the goons but to someone who see he directly massacre the group will be disturbed.**

**They approve Haru kill them but clearly it still going to disturb them, even if they knew what he did is right. I mean come on! A kid not older than them already massacre the whole army with impassive look?! That was not normal!**

**We also have small comedy/romance between Haru and Yakumo. Mind you, the pairing still not decided. Yakumo just got her turn because she close to him and she was her teammate. Thing will be different if she in Konoha**

**I won't be quite bother with the pairing though. It will be quite long before I make official pairing. The pairing could be anyone and any candidate mind you**

**Haru not bad or good guy. He simply walk on his own pat and he also manipulative bastard. He's someone you could said like Aizen and Katsuragi Keima. Those two manipulative and able to adapt with many people by editing their own personality.**

**Naruto &amp; Sasuke pairing. Dunno with who I should pair them though. You can give suggestion if you wish who the one going to be with them**

**Haru second element. Still not decided, the suggestion and opinion won't be took anymore when Chunin Exam begin**

**Haku fate, what will Haku do?! What will she choose? And what Haru plan for her actually?! I bet few of you already know it and what he did, and if you know then you quite sharp but if you not, well... Try to struggle more, muahahaha XDD**

**Oh, I also have question. It about Mangekyo Sharingan. I'd like to ask about Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Does those two actually a normal ability that Mangekyo Sharingan have the moment someone possess it? Or it special ability like Kotoamatsukami and Kamui? If that true then, how about Sasuke eyes? He possess Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu just like Itachi before he got his eyes mixed with Itachi's**

**And our review finally more than 100+! Hooray! I was really. Surprised when see last chapter got 20 review, that was quite a lot! Thank you everyone! I love you all! And I don't care if you call me review-whore! People need inspiration to write damnit!**

**Next chapter will be Haku decision and return to Konoha! After that we will have opening of Chunin Exam arc! **

**Stay tune and keep reading if you wish to know the continuation! And Please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	18. Home Sweet Home!

**This chapter has been edited by Frouade! All the credits for better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 17. Home Sweet Home!**

* * *

Hiruzen stared at us with calculating and calm look. Smoke came out from the pipe he currently inhaled. His eyes moved to Kakashi and Genma a few times before he decided to speak.

"So... Let me get this straight, the C-rank mission is actually fluke ever since the beginning and turned into B-rank due to Demon Brothers striking you but the B-rank mission turned into A-rank one, where you were facing Zabuza's companion; Demon Brothers and unknown ice user Kunoichi and Aoi Rokushō," He paused and took deep breath before staring at Kakashi, who looked nervous, "And YOU! Instead of requesting group of Chunin you requested extra squad of Genin team?!"

"Hokage-sama, on my defense-"

"We! Will! Have a small chat after this, Kakashi," Hiruzen cut the Jonin in slightly stern tone and Kakashi shoulder slumped.

"Hai..."

I could tell Naruto was trying his best holding laugh on my side. Sasuke openly smirked while Sakura also seemed amused. Yakumo only stared with calm look and Genma slightly smirked.

"You are lucky, Kakashi, Haru-kun here is very talented," Hiruzen praised me as he glanced at me who... was kneeling while my forehead was touching the ground.

"My lord! You flatter this humble Shinobi! I'm not that great!" I exclaimed in exaggerated manner.

I heard Hiruzen sighed at my response, the old man appeared to be bored, tired or something that you could say 'I already dealt with this shit too many times! Please stop in the name of God's sake!'

I must admit, at first I felt quite ashamed acting like this but after years... Let's just say I got accustomed. Besides, Hiruzen Sarutobi deserved this, he is the only Shinobi that didn't possess bloodline but could reach title God of Shinobi! Third only after Hagoromo and Hashirama!

In my eyes, I favoured him, actually. To get tittle God of Shinobi by himself without bloodline or special ability... This man is truly a legend!

"Haru-kun, please, stand up," he ordered.

"Wait a few more seconds!"

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"It'd been ten seconds already, would you stand up NOW?" Hiruzen asked in bored tone and I immediately did, "And Haku-san, would you stand too?"

Haku, who was kneeling just like me, before slowly raised her head. She turned and gave me look and I only nodded. Then she moved her leg and began to..?! I didn't do anything to her, she just followed my act by her own will!

"And not just that, but you brought back the mysterious Ice user Kunoichi. Even complete with the Kubikiribōchō itself..." Hiruzen grumbled while rubbing his temple.

"Actually, that was more like Haru's deed," Kakashi pointed in hopeful manner so the talk later maybe will become lightened.

Eventually Hiruzen glared at him making him shrunk back.

"So, Haku-san... What is your reason to come to Konoha?" Hiruzen asked Haku, who stood on my side.

Haku only kept silence as she glanced at me for a moment. When we were on our way back to Konoha, she said she was willing to come with us and wanted to join Konoha.

Naruto was, of course, very happy, dunno, but he seemed to be very fond of Haku. Probably because he found someone very similar to him. Haku was also person who taught Naruto the way someone becomes strong when they protect something precious for them.

Her influence was actually made a big role in Naruto's life.

"I... To be honest, it something private, Hokage-sama... I want to tell you, but..."

"I understand," Hiruzen cut Haku while nodding. He then gave a look to all of us. "Everyone, leave," Hiruzen stated immediately as he stared at us. I could see the Genin from team 7 wanted to protest but the tone Hiruzen used was very stern and accompanied by power. The tone he used was not the kind grandfather he always uses and I am sure it made team 7 realize even if this old man is kind, this old man is the strongest ninja in the village.

Kakashi, Genma and I only kept silence. We didn't show any sign to protest, bowing our heads we then left. The team 7 also followed me but before I was out from the door-

"Haru-kun, you stay here. I'm sure Haku-san will be more comfortable if you are here," Hiruzen stated and I turned to Haku, she gave a smile and nodded to me. Indicating she wished me to stay.

Narrowing my eyes, I nodded without protest. I turned to Sasuke and Naruto.

"If you meet Hinata, tell her to wait in the compound. I have a souvenir for her," I said to them and Naruto grinned while Sasuke smirked.

"Sure! Hinata-chan will be happy!" Naruto exclaimed happily with nod and he left followed by Sasuke. I could see Yakumo slightly frowned, it was clear she was jealous.

And I also knew she and Hinata had met privately. Whatever happened on that meeting probably lead to competition, I just hope Hinata won't start to acting bold like Yakumo. One Yakumo is already enough, really, I don't need another one.

As I walked back and stood on Haku's side, Hiruzen exhaled the smoke from his pipe before turned to Haku. His expression softened like a grandfather.

"You can tell me everything now, Haku-san." He said in slightly kind tone.

Haku glanced at me, as if asking for comfort. I smiled and gave her a nod, which she returned. She turned to Hiruzen and took a deep breath.

"Like Kakashi-san said in details of mission. I was ally of Zabuza-sama. However, I'm not ally, I am just a tool, a weapon for him. I'm not living being, I am just someone, who serves him and is loyal to him," Haku said in bitter tone and Hiruzen eyebrow furrowed.

She then began to tell her story to Hiruzen. About how she lived in Kiri and how her mother was killed by her father and she was about to be killed. Then, she told him about how she met Zabuza and how he picked her and became his tool.

"I see..." Hiruzen started after a moment of silence when he finished hearing the story, "Kiri is still harsh as ever... And I was thinking they have become lenient after Shinobi War end..." he muttered before stared at Haku. "I give you my pity, Haku-san. But if what you said is true about being Zabuza's tool then why come to Konoha?"

"Because Zabuza wanted me to be free..." Haku answered in tone that contained happiness "He... He wrote a letter for me... Before we went to the bridge for the battle, he had written it. In it he... He said he actually had a bad vibe about the mission but he decided to go on because he needed the money..." Haku paused and her face morphed to sadness. "We needed it to help the rebellion side of Kiri..." She muttered and Hiruzen face gained understanding look.

"So that's it... I understand..." Hiruzen said with a nod. "How much Gato was going to pay you anyway?"

"20 million ryo..." Haku responded, "It was large because apparently Gato couldn't leave from Wave fearing Tazuna-san' influence will make the bridge finished. So he hired the nearest ninja, which happened to be one from Kiri."

"But Ame is on opposite of Wave..." Hiruzen pointed.

"Indeed..." Haku nodded in acceptance. "But it was pure coincidence. Aoi Rokushō was near Kiri at that time, and he heard about the job so he decided to take it since the payment was quite big."

"Hmm... I see..." Hiruzen rubbed his chin while putting thoughtful face. "Continue, please..."

"In that letter, Zabuza-sama said he... He thought of me as daughter and... I... I was p-precious to him..." Haku's tone became sad and she appeared to start to get choked, tears emerged out from her brown eyes. "H-He said if something bad will happen, she wanted me to be free and do whatever I want..." She paused and I could tell she tried to calm herself. It took a moment before she continued, "B-But I-I don't know what I should do, I... I'm lost... So... So I tried to find a goal... Goal for my life... Then I remembered about Haru-sama... He... He is the one that saved me and he promised to Zabuza that I will survive and..."

"You do know you didn't need to do this..." Surprisingly, it was I who interjected. "I don't need your help, I dont't want you to serve me. You could be free by your own..."

"I can't be free..." Haku said to me with hollow chuckle. "Not with my life... I can't be free because with my current mindset I will only end as another tool... Zabuza-sama didn't want that... He wanted me to be free and I will be... That's why I am serving you..." Haku stated as she stared at me with soft smile. "I believe, Haru-sama... By following you one day I will be free, I will find my purpose... I will find what I mean to be in this World... That's why... I will follow you till the end... Until I'll find what I can't find..."

Her tone was soft and gentle, her voice was beautiful and filled with kindness yet also filled firmness and steel. As if she truly believed that I was actually going to lead her to right path one day.

Hiruzen, who was listening to us since the beginning, only kept silence while inhaling and exhaling his pipe with calm look. I could tell there was a slight smile on his face though, indicating he seemed to be satisfied with the situation.

But it was not just him, who was satisfied...

I was also satisfied.

Outwardly blushing at the praise and compliment, I averted her gaze by tilting my face and stared at Hiruzen, who only sighed.

"In other words, you are not loyal to Konoha. You are only loyal to Haru..." Hiruzen concluded.

"Right, Hokage-sama..." Haku admitted sincerely and Hiruzen rubbed his beard while humming.

"Well... How about it, Haru-kun?"

"W-What do you mean my Lord? The decision is up to you! I jus-"

"This girl wants to devote herself to you. Will you accept it?"

"I..." I glanced at Haku, who seemed nervous. "If My Lord will allow her to stay in Konoha..."

"Hmm..." Hiruzen took breath before let out white smoke from his pipe. "You said something about rebel faction in Kiri before, right?" he asked and Haku nodded. "Do they know your identity?"

"No... They do not... They do know my name and probably recognize my ability, but they never saw my face directly," Haku answered.

"Well then, I guess we won't have problems with Kiri," Hiruzen said in pleased tone. "And about Kubikiribōchō, well as long no one knows about it, it won't be a problem in the future. I will allow you to join Konoha, Haku-san, on a few conditions, and these conditions are unavoidable. You must accept it... By any means necessary," he stated in firm tone that said he won't accept any objections.

I only narrowed my eyes. It was to be expected though, no matter how kind Hiruzen is, he won't accept stranger to Konoha, at least not until he is very sure the person is safe and there are benefit he gets, it is not matter of kindness but it matter of logic and reason.

"Firstly, you will not be able to leave the village for a month," Hiruzen stated and Haku nodded.

Even if it was person close to him recommend someone, he won't be lenient. So Haku relationship with me or Naruto will not cloud his judgment. And to make sure the person, who is going join Konoha, is safe, I'm sure he will-

"Second, you must attend private meeting with Inoichi Yamanaka. When you will talk with her, he will be allowed to do **anything** to you. And you will have to follow whatever he will say without protest," Hiruzen stated and his tone held more power as his eyes also showed that this is something that shouldn't be argued.

Haku appeared to be stiffened at that, but she gave a glance to me for a moment and slowly nodded. I still stayed silent not showing any sign of protest or helping her.

This is the law and procedure after all. This is what also makes Konoha being feared. During the war, no enemy ninja that was captured won't talk under Konoha's interrogation. With Yamanaka on Konoha's side, breaking someone and finding the information isn't hard. Konoha is called strongest village not just because one reason.

The village location also gives big support. Our place is not too hot and not too cold, we are, what you could say, in perfect and comfortable location. We are placed almost in the center of this planet, also our environment makes our economic greater than all nations.

There are still so many things that could be counted for why Konoha is the strongest village. But that is story for another time.

"Third, after that, you will join Backup Team and perform mission with them."

Hiruzen voice broke me from my mind as I blinked at his declaration. I unconsciously glanced at Haku, who also glanced back at me, her eyes appeared to show gleam of happiness and relief too.

"And the last condition, you will be under watch of ANBU for two weeks," Hiruzen finished. "Do you accept it?"

"Hai, I accept the conditions," Haku said with bow and Hiruzen smiled kindly.

"Well then, welcome to Konoha, Haku-san. Give this letter to Inoichi Yamanaka when you meet him," Hiruzen stated as he handed her the letter and Haku took it. "Haru-kun, why don't you take Haku-san to Yamanaka Flower shop?"

"Of course, My Lord!" I responded with pleased look and Hiruzen chuckled. "Oh, by the way, My Lord. I brought a souvenir for you!" I said as I began to pull my bag and Hiruzen blinked. I rammed my hand through it for a moment before pulling out a box. "Here! I brought you a new tabasco for your pipe! The seller said it's directly from Kiri!" I declared as I gave it to him.

Hiruzen stared at the box on his desk before laughing. He then took the box and smiled to me. "Thank you, Haru-kun, I was looking for a new flavour for the tabasco," he stated with a nod and accepted my gift. "Oh, by the way, Haku-san. Do you have a place to stay? I can't have you sleeping on the streets now, am I?"

Haku blinked at that, apparently, she didn't seem to think about that. I decided to interfere at this point.

"Uchiha Compound is big. She can stay at one of vacant houses," I offered, "Though it will be needed to clean off, but few houses are still very decent."

"Hmmm, that's good idea," Hiruzen accepted with nod. "Very well, Haku-san, after you are done with Inoichi, you can ask him to go to Haru-kun's place."

"Hai..." Haku nodded and bowed again.

"Well, if there is nothing else to talk, I must request you to leave since I have some work to do..." Hiruzen said as he gestured to the paperwork surrounding him and I held back chuckle at that. Haku and I gave last bow to Hiruzen before we left.

Heh... Everything just went exactly like I planned... This really feels good...

* * *

Sometime later.

"We are here," I stated as Haku and I stared at the Yamanaka flower shop in front of us.

During our walk to this shop we did not talk much. We only kept silence since it was clear none of us had something to talk about.

It could be also said because Haku marvelled Konoha. This must be her first time to see village like Konoha. I also must agree, Konoha itself is a beautiful and wonderful village.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go in," I said to Haku on my side, who nodded with smile.

We then entered the place together and I immediately recognized familiar face in the shop.

"Welcome to Yamanaka' Flower shop. Eh? Haru! Hello!"

It was Ino Yamanaka, she was wearing normal casual outfit and waving her hand to me in greeting manner. I only smiled back and waved my hand to her.

"Ino-san, hello to you too. How are you?"

"Eh? I'm fine, a little this and that. Ya know, dealing with those two boys is troublesome sometimes," Ino said while making a gesture with her hand, those two, no doubt, were Shikamaru and Chouji. "Troublesome... God, I even sound like Shikamaru, that lazy no good man," she grumbled slightly and I openly chuckled. She then gave slight glare to me but blinked when noticed Haku's presence. "Haru! Who is this beautiful girl?" she asked immediately with sparkle in her eyes.

"Ah? This is Haku. Haku, meet Ino Yamanaka, Inoichi-san's daughter," I introduced her to Ino.

"Hello, Yamanaka-san, it's nice to meet you..." Haku bowed politely and Ino nodded back.

"Hello, name's Ino. Just call me Ino, Yamanaka is my dad's name," Ino giggled slightly. "Are you Haru's girlfriend?"

Haku blinked at the question while I put deadpan look. Ino will always be blunt if it's about something like this, I had a feeling she will get along with Yakumo quite well in aspect of sex appeal.

Note to self, make sure Yakumo stays away from Ino.

"No, I'm not, Ino-san. I'm... Haru-san's friend..." Haku said with slight pause as if she tried to place her word with care. I don't know, but she clearly insists to call me 'Haru-sama', thank God, she is not like Yakumo and refrains herself to not call me that in public.

Gods knows what will happen if she would call me that in front of Ino. The whole Genin in Konoha soon will suspect I'm into BDSM. Let me tell you, Ino really loves to gossip. While true, she seems to be better in her Shinobi trait than Sakura and possesses larger reserve, but she is more girlish and feminine, mind you! And gossiping is one of her specialties!

"Oo..." Ino cooed slightly before shooting me a look. "You are sly dog, Haru! And here I think you are already an item with Hinata! What will she think if she'll see you?!"

"An item?" Haku openly asked with blink and I only rolled my eyes.

"I don't know what you are thinking, Ino-san. But I assure you, Haku-san and I are only friends. Nothing more, nothing else..." I stated simply while shrugging my shoulders.

"You are no fun, Haru!" Ino pouted slightly. "You know, you are not that bad looking. There are a few, who like you secretly," She said with teasing grin.

I don't know what to say about that. My appearance was noted by Yakumo, who is also quite good looking. It was clear I got it either from my mother or father. My mother must be quite a woman if she was able to smite Uchiha. That clan was a picker in matter of women, after all.

My shaggy brown hair now turned to spiky. Not like Naruto's level, but it still could be called spiky and it shaped in similar manner to certain brother of ancestor Uchiha if I recall from watching the anime. Don't know why it happened, maybe it's a trait from my father or mother? And maybe face... Well... I... Guess I must say my face is one level above standard.

"Ino-san, I'm not interested in romantic life," I said with sigh. "Surely, you know that, I mean we are still 12. Isn't it better to think about that if we are 16 or 18?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean," Ino waved her hand in dismissing manner. "But you must know you have to experience love at young age! It will give you experience how to handle women, you know! Especially ones like Hinata! You two look cute together!"

If I was a normal 12 years old boy I would take your advice and maybe would look for a girlfriend. Sadly, I'm... Forty... Maybe early forty -around forty to forty five if I am right-. I'm old already and know about girls more than you, _little_ girl.

Besides, I will think about that when I reach my Godhood! Right now I have things more important to handle.

"Anyway, Ino-san. We are here looking for your father. Is he here?" I don't want to deal with her any longer, it's only going to increase headache.

"Daddy? Sure, he's in the house. What do you want with him?" Ino asked with blinked eyes.

"I have a message from Hokage-sama for him. So, could you call him?" I asked and Ino's face changed slightly at the mention of Hokage. She appeared to be in deep thought for a moment before nodded.

"Wait here, then." She said as she turned back. "Dad! Come here!"

Haku and I watched as Ino went inside and called Inoichi. I turned to Haku and gave her smile.

"So, how is Konoha?" I asked.

"It's beautiful this far..." Haku said as she returned the smile with her own. "The village appears to be very peaceful and the people also seem kind."

"Konoha is quite pacifistic if you must say. This village created based on peace, after all, not on fight. Morality in here is high," I explained and it was true. Hashirama and Madara created this village for peace, so no children will be forced to enter battlefield in young age. Among all villages, I dare to say it is Konoha who is the most pacifistic. Ironically, this village is also the strongest, despite its nature.

"I can see that..." Haku smiled softly before she scowled. "But... Their behaviour toward Naruto-kun is..."

Ah, so she noticed it. It wasn't a surprise though, there are people, who are still openly glaring and express dislike toward Naruto. I don't know what to say about them, on other hand their behaviour is actually logical.

I had to think about civilian behaviour toward Naruto. And after moment of thinking it was quite reasonable. The damage Kyuubi did was big. Imagine it, Kyuubi with size of mountain, just think, what if I dropped mountain to the New York city? Then, the said mountain would be rampaging by walking to all directions and shoot gales of wind every time it roar.

Now, do you get what I said? As much I hate to say it, but it was close to impossible to just forget what Kyuubi has done. Let me make easier analogue, remember Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan got bombarded by nuclear weaponry?

Well, the next day afterwards you found out one of Japanese hid some American in their house. What the people in Japan reaction will be after hearing that?

Yep, total chaos and anger. That would be very reasonable...

True, their hatred is misplaced, but it was hard to see Naruto, knowing the boy has demon that killed your whole family stuck inside him.

"That is private matter, Haku-san. Only Naruto could tell you about it," I said to her, who had troubled face.

"I understand..." Haku nodded. "But Haru-sama, could you call me just by my name? It was... disturbing knowing the person I serve called me like that..."

"Reduce the -sama to -san. And I will consider it," I stated with smirk and Haku put thoughtful face at that.

Before she could reply, however, the door inside the shop opened and we saw Inoichi coming.

"Inoichi-san," I bowed to him and Haku on my side followed my act.

"Hello, Haru-kun. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Inoichi asked with chuckle.

"It has, Inoichi-san. How are you? I hope whatever business you are working on is good?"

"Hahaha! Polite as always! Yes, yes. I'm doing fine, how about you?"

"I am also doing fine. However, I came here not to chat but to give you this."

Inoichi took the letter I gave. His eyes changed when he saw stamp from Hokage on it. He unfolded the letter and began to read it.

After a moment his face changed to serious. Gone his jovial and cheerful face from before. He then raised his face and turned to us.

"Haku-san, I take it?" Inoichi asked and Haku nodded. "Very well, please wait here for moment. I need to change outfit first before go out..."

"Hai..."

With that Inoichi went back into his house. Ino stared at us with curious look after that, clearly, she wanted to know what it was.

"Why is Haku-san here? Is she not a normal person, isn't she?" Ino stated with narrowed eyes as she placed one hand to her hip.

"It's classified, Ino-san. You need to ask Hokage-sama's permission to find out," I told her and she frowned.

"Is it really that important? Now I'm very curious!" She declared while crossing her arms "Can you at least give me a little clue about it? Please, Haru? Pretty please with cherry on the top?" She asked and her eyes somehow became bigger and wet due to appeared tears.

"No..." I denied bluntly, completely in the flat tone. Ino huffed hearing that, the tears were gone and her expression turned to annoyance.

"You are no fun…" she pouted and I only smiled.

"Well, I'm ready."

Inoichi appearance cut conversation of Ino and me again. The man already wore his Shinobi attire, complete with the flak jacket and forehead protector.

"Let's go, Haku-san," Inoichi said and we nodded. "Haru-kun, are you coming with us?"

"No, but I am also going to leave since I need to return my pack to house," I replied and he nodded. "Inoichi-san, after you are done, could you give Haku here my address?"

"Of course!" Inoichi said. "Well, we are better go now. Come on, Haku-san..."

I stared at Haku, who also glanced at me. I gave her reassuring smile and nodded, she gladly returned it back before departing with Inoichi.

As she left I couldn't help but let out sigh a little. Well, now that problem was gone, time to go back. I guess, I could rest a little before going to visit Hinata or resuming my training.

"She is a pretty girl, eh?"

I turned and saw Ino giving me teasing look. Her grin also stretched into annoying one.

"Yes, she is. Prettier than you for sure..." I stated rudely and I clearly took pleasure by watching her eyebrow twitched from annoyance.

"You are not supposed to say that to lady, Haru!" Ino pouted.

"I know," I said, the tone I used never changed from flat one. So did my face that remained impassive. "Since there is nothing else to say, I will take my leave then..."

"Yeah, yeah. You know, you are kinda annoying. Girls don't like men that are too blunt," She chided lightly while waving her fingers playfully and my face adorned by slight smirk.

"I know... See you later, Ino-san..."

"Yeah, see you later. Give my regards to Sasuke-kun!"

"I will..."

* * *

It wasn't long after Haru left Yamanaka' Shop. He actually didn't have anything much to do. The reincarnated man was wondering what he should do. Should he resume his training? It was clear he is already back in his prime condition now. He could perform everything back 100%

'But I already promised Naruto there will be a small celebration in order to welcome Haku...' Haru thought while rubbing his chin and it was true. The blond already asked him to perform surprise party for Haku. It seems Naruto is quite fond of Haku more than Haru predicted. 'Hmm, well. I guess I can start training tomorrow. Tonight it will be better if I relax a little.' Haru nodded inwardly at the plan.

With this the Wave arc was finished, now he soon will enter Chunin Exam. But the problem was Haru didn't know when it will be held. He planned to ask Hiruzen but that will make the Hokage suspicious on him. He wished to graduate later, but now he was in a hurry to become Chunin.

It is not like he was actually in a hurry to become one. It just that arc will be quite important. There will be so many events happening at that time, if he'll play this arc right then the thing he will get in this arc will probably be better than Raijin!

And there is a matter of Gaara too! What should he do to him? Should he become his pillar too? Or leave it to Naruto?

So many things he could do. So many buttons to press, which one should he press in order to gain the biggest prize?

"H-Haru-kun!"

He blinked when heard familiar voice. Broking from his mind, he turned and saw there was a certain Hyuuga ran approaching him.

"Hinata?" he called with slight surprise. Never he thought he will meet her here, he walked approaching her and smiled. "Hi! How are you? I missed you, you know?" he asked and it was true. After staying with Yakumo... Let just say, he learnt to treasure his time with Hinata more now.

Hinata face immediately flushed when heard that words. Hearing Haru said he missed her clearly brought butterfly to her stomach.

"I-I-I-I m-m-miss you too!" she stuttered with soft smile.

Haru in response merely opened his arms and gave her hug. Poor girl let out loud "EEP" and poor Haru immediately released her due to sudden screech in his ear.

"EEK! S-Sorry H-Haru-kun! I-"

"I-It's fine! It's fine!" Haru replied in dismissing manner while scratching his ear with pinkie finger 'Maybe I shouldn't tease her so much when we close. But again, she so cute, damnit! Man, if only I had daughter like her in previous life. I am going to cuddle her everyday!' He thought with nod inwardly, he didn't have any son/daughter in past due to not being married, but he always wanted son.

But now, seeing Hinata, he had no doubts, he was going to prefer girl over boy. Girl is clearly more cute and adorable than boy.

"Anyway, why you here? I am surprised I met you now. Did you meet Naruto before?" He asked.

"W-Well yeah. I-I meet t-them w-when he and Sasuke-kun were on t-their way to compound. S-So, I decided t-to look for you…" she said and Haru grunted.

"I see... But you should have waited for me in the compound. Not need to look for me like this," Haru said and Hinata nodded, knowing what he said was right.

"I-It's fine! I-I j-just w-wanted to m-meet you soon!" Hinata stuttered "B-B-Because! I-I also m-m-m-m-m-i-i-"

Haru sweatdropped as Hinata face from blushed turned to full tomato, he began to wonder when steam was going to pop out from her head. This girl is really very shy about things like this, shouldn't she be more confidence now? He never thought she will be this shy.

"Calm down, Hinata, yes I am glad you missed me too. I also did..." Haru chuckled and Hinata only lowered her head, clearly getting embarrassed now. "Oh yeah, the souvenir..." Haru then pulled his backpack and began to ram his hand in it. "Here it is!" He then pulled out small box, the size barely reaching his palm and gave it to her.

The Hyuuga girl blinked as she took the box from him. She glanced at him as if asking permission and Haru nodded, indicating he gave his permission. Hinata immediately opened the box and she gasped softly, it was necklace. The necklace was shaped as full white moons, it was only simple design but in Hinata's eyes…

"It's beautiful..." Hinata murmured as she stared at the white necklace, it seemed glowing a little due to sunlight that shines on it.

"Well, I bought it when I was on festival. It is not too expensive, sorry to give you a cheap one," Haru said in slightly apologetic tone.

"N-No! I-It's okay!" Hinata stammered. "I... I like it... It's beautiful..." she murmured and Haru nodded with smile.

"Glad you like it then, I was thinking you won't," Haru stated.

Hinata bowed her head down again, clearly, she can't stare in Haru's eyes. She was too happy now! Not just Haru exclaimed he missed her and he also gave her beautiful necklace! It takes everything she has now to not faint in his presence!

She may become more confident, but for strange reason, she couldn't tell, she is always nervous when standing at Haru's side.

'H-He gave me t-this gift. M-Maybe h-he-'

"Well, I also bought few souvenirs to others too. Where is Shino? I have something for him."

And with that Hinata's hope dimmed, for a moment depression was clear on her face. It seems Haru did not think about her that way... Not yet, maybe... This was the reason why she did not dare to confess, Haru always treated her like sister or daughter. It was clear he never saw her as something more.

Hinata also had no doubt that Haru is actually aware of her feelings. Unlike Naruto, Haru is not dense. He was sharp and also able to caught clues with ease. However, the boy, until now, still did not treat her as lover or things like that which proves he is clearly not interested to make a romantic relationship.

She had heard Haru spoke with Ino and said how he was too young to have relationship, maybe when he will be older and Hinata could respect that. She is also aware she is, in fact, quite young to have one too, though she can dream about one at least, right?

"Hinata? Are you okay? You seem to look down," Haru asked as he noticed Hinata seemed down.

"N-No! I'm fine! S-Shino-kun is currently on training field with Kurenai-sensei and Kiba-kun!" Hinata stated while telling him about Shino at the same time.

Haru, hearing that, openly blinked and seemed to be taken back before his face morphed to deadpan. "Let me conclude the situation. You should be on training ground right now, meeting with your team. But instead doing that you came, running and looking for me?" He said in flat tone.

The Hyuuga girl blinked before blush erupted on her face. Now, he put it that way... That was sound... 'Oh God! It's clearly stupid! I-I-I! I can't believe I just-' Hinata gloomy thought was cut by Haru's soft chuckle. The secret Uchiha shook his head and gave Hinata smile.

"I will take you there..."

"E-Eh? N-No! Y-You d-don't need to-"

"I insist," Haru cut her while rising one hand, "Let's go now... We can't have you late..." he stated while making a gesture to her with one hand, "lead the way, **Byakugan Hime (Byakugan Princess)**..." He said with wink.

Hinata, hearing that, had wide eyes, her face turned to cherry at the sudden nickname. 'Hime... Hime... Hime... Hime...'

And you know the rest what happened.

Haru was just in time to catch Hinata, who fell down. He couldn't help but sweatdropped at this, he shouldn't tease her this much. But after remembering she had been called Byakugan Hime in the Last Movie, he always wanted to call her that.

He then noticed that he was in public and began to look around. He let out breath when saw there was no one here -thank God or whatever Deity exist in this World for that-.

'Note to self, never tease Hinata too much. At least not when she is very confident,' he thought, but he knew it will be hard. God damnit, he'll never meet girl like Hinata in his World. That's why he can't resist teasing her, I mean, had you ever seen someone faint just because got complimented?

Nope, and neither do I. Until now at least...

What? I may have God complex perhaps, but I still love teasing someone! I can enjoy moments like this at least, right?

* * *

That night

Well, what could I say? This day went better than I thought

It was 10:00PM now, I currently sat on balcony at Sasuke's house, staring at sky through backyard or something like that. You know, the scene where people spending night alone or thing like that. That was what I was doing.

The small celebration was fun. It was only me, Naruto and Sasuke though. We didn't need to invite other people, especially not Hinata or Yakumo. Those two are big NO and, thankfully, Naruto and Sasuke at least understand that.

We didn't do much other than Naruto and Haku talk. Those two already made bonds, despite just knowing each other for such a short time.

Sasuke seemed still little awkward to them, but he also tried to make a conversation, which was a good thing anyway. Mind you, that was really anti-social, I still remember when he sat with me, Naruto and Hinata.

Dear God, his EMO behavior clearly got on my nerves and it took everything I have to not smack his head, though I did it too in the end.

Chunin Exam is coming... If I recall the Chunin Exam will be held on first July... We are on the second week of June which means... Two weeks again...

It was no doubt all Rookie 9 along with me will enter. Genma will propose me, even if he will not Hiruzen himself will. I have no doubts about that, my relationship with him is... close, you could say we are quite close...

Even if I started it with act, but I found I started to honor that old man more. No seriously, you have to give him credit. He had lead Konoha through two wars and not just survived but won. And he is also one of people, who dare to slam Kyuubi in face with giant staff.

A mother fucking Kyuubi! The Bijuu, who could beat other 8 Bijuu by himself in my opinion! And he slapped the beast in face directly with staff! No wonder he got tittle God of Shinobi.

As I stared at the sky outside I heard sound of footsteps from the inside. It was barely could be heard, but due to silent night I managed to. Who is the one coming here? Intruder?

I closed my eyes and extended my sensor ability. I'm not good sensor, I probably only could sense 100 or 200 meters away from my position but hey! That's still a good thing, right?

It was a familiar bright and strong chakra that responded to my sensor. I opened my eyes and blinked, he walked in this direction. What Naruto is doing this late?

I then relaxed slightly before tilting my head at the door and not long after that, it opened to reveal Naruto wearing his light blue pajama and his sleeping hat.

"Are you not sleeping?" I asked.

"Eh? Haru?" Naruto, who stared at me showed surprised look, he clearly did not expect me to be here. "No, I'm not. What about you?"

"I just was thinking about what happened lately..." I said as I stared back at the sky and made a gesture for him to sit on my side, which he did. "We just became Genin for... Almost three months... And so many things already happened..." I murmured and it was true, we just became Genin for three months, after all.

"Yeah... Three months, eh..." Naruto muttered while moving his legs forward and backward.

"So why can't you sleep? Mind to tell me?" I asked and Naruto seemed quite nervous. I wondered what he was thinking now, is it about... "Do you have crush on Haku?"

"What?! No! Of course not!" Naruto said with his face blushing as he waved his hand. "It just... I... I..." Naruto stopped talking and his face scrunched to troubled expression before he looked down. It was barely a whisper and I wouldn't be able to hear it had I not focused my ears on him. "It's just... Sasuke was asking what happened on the bridge during Wave..." He whispered to himself.

Now it was my turn to show surprised face. This was clearly a thing that I did not predict. Sasuke asked? But... Well, it's actually logical... Seeing Sasuke here is a bit OOC and not like his counterpart. This Sasuke being friend with Naruto, close friend, in fact. So, clearly, he was going to ask.

"About you using Kyuubi's Chakra?" I asked and he turned to me with shocked look. "The chakra could be felt by anyone, Naruto. Let me tell you, even I, who was not close, also felt it that time. Why do you think I was rushing to your place immediately?"

"Ah... I... I... See..." Naruto stammered slightly as he seemed more nervous than before.

"I wouldn't worry too much. Sakura-san seems to not know about it, only Kakashi-san and Haku, if my guess is right," I reassured and it worked as Naruto looked relieved a little. "So... How did you feel? Using its chakra?"

"I... I... I... Angry, I guess..." Naruto murmured in unsure tone. "I... Don't know, it was almost like hazy... The whole thing was blurred... I just focused on... Beating Haku... But I remember I was very angry..." he whispered. "I was so angry that I really stroke with intent to kill and..." He gulped and it was clear he was afraid, he was really afraid. "I... It wasn't me that time..."

"Sasuke is really precious to you, eh?" I asked softly and I was not surprised when Naruto nodded, admitting it. "Listen to me, Naruto. You do not need to be afraid, it was an accident and your anger is reasonable."

"But what if next time I will really lose control?!" Naruto almost yelled at me, horror was clear on his face. "I... I was really angry that time and... It's clear I'm not myself! What if! What if the fox will try to take control and-"

"Your friends will be there for you," I interjected. "Your fear is logical, I know. This is Kyuubi we are talking about, so I know. I won't say I understand your feelings, but at least I know what your condition is and what you went through. However, living in fear forever won't be helping your situation..." I said in slightly stern tone and Naruto lowered his head. "Kyuubi power is dangerous... But if you use it right, it could become weapon to protect your friends. It's no doubt powerful and-"

"I don't want to use its power!" Naruto snapped at me and his face showed anger and fear "I'm strong myself! And I can-"

"I know, I know..." I cut him again and I flicked his forehead to make him stop too as he yelped while holding his forehead. "I didn't command you to use its power, I just told you it will be a great asset if you are going to need it. And don't tell me you won't need it. Naruto, you are young, WE are young. Let's admit it, if you didn't have Kyuubi, Haku would already beat you on the bridge along with Sasuke, am I right?"

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but there was no voice out from it. Slowly he snapped close his jaw and lowered his head, clearly, he knew it was true. Sadly, but it was true. Naruto wouldn't win against Haku had he not possessed Kyuubi on the bridge.

"Listen, Naruto, I won't sugar coat. You know, I'm not that kind of person, so I will be blunt. Train yourself to be strong, but at the same time train to use Kyuubi's power," I stated. "Yondaime-sama must have a reason to seal the Kyuubi in you, other than to cage the beast there must be another one. Perhaps, he wanted you to use its power and master it..."

Naruto only kept silence and kept staring at the ground. I could tell he was very troubled now, but my words were clearly working as I could see his face lightened slightly.

"Do you really think so?" He whispered, sounding unsure with himself.

"Of course!" I said with firm nod. "Which means, I guess, Yondaime-sama also believed you will be able to use Kyuubi's power for greater good!" I added and his mood seemed to brighten as he raised his face and met mine.

"I... Yeah... That must be it..." he said before grin split on his face "Thanks, Haru... I... I feel better you know and-"

I cut him by extending my arm and giving him one sided-hug. Naruto clearly was taken back as he had wide eyes and showed surprised look.

"That's what brother for, right? Not need to thank me for something I should do..." I said softly as I gave playful noogie to his head and he let out whine.

"Ouch! Ouch! Stop it!" He whined and I released him. He grumbled while rubbing his head and throwing a glare at me, but I only smirked. The glare eventually melted and turned to look of sincere happiness. "But really... Thank you... Haru-nii..."

I only nodded and gave wink to him before taking deep breathe and let out long sigh "So... Anyway, back to main topic about Sasuke..." I said and he stiffened a bit. "If you want my opinion, I guess you could tell him the truth..."

"T-The truth?" Naruto stammered slightly in panic.

"You and Sasuke are teammates. Sooner or later it will be out and later it will be worse. If he won't know, it could be more problematic..." I responded with stern look and it was true. It would be better if he told him now rather than after facing Orochimaru in Forest of Death.

"I... I see... I understand..." Naruto gulped as he took breath "I guess, I will tell him... And everyone too... Hinata-chan and Shino deserve to know..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold your horses, little man!" I said quickly as I felt surprised. "You don't need to tell them if you are not ready. Just Sasuke because he-"

"I know! But Hinata-chan and Shino are the closest after you and Sasuke!" Naruto cut me with scowl. "I guess... I should tell them too... It was clear they deserve to know... They... They are people who also saved me from darkness..." he said and the last part came as whisper.

I only stared at Naruto with furrowed eyebrows. I don't have problems with this, actually, though it is surprise but Naruto does have a good point. He won't tell Sakura, I understand, but Hinata and Shino should know too. They are Naruto's friends before Sasuke came, after all.

"If you say so, then... How about tomorrow, here? I will invite them after we finish each our own mission..." I offered and he nodded.

"Yeah... I guess that will be good time... Thanks, Haru-nii..."

"I told you many times, it is nothing, Naruto," I said with chuckle. "I am just doing my job as big brother to my little brother, after all..." I patted his head and Naruto this time didn't swat away my hand as if he seemed enjoying it.

Despite all that strong and cheerful persona. He is still a child... A lonely and scarred child... I was honest and I think Naruto as my little brother already.

My relationship with my real brother in my previous life was not good, you could say... We had a conflict and did not talk to each other for a long time until it was too late...

That's why I try to get close to Naruto and adore him. I don't want him to experience what I felt... There bonds between brothers are very unique, bonds that may surpass bonds of child and parent...

Naruto... Deserves something better... Unlike the shit he went through in Cannon... I was fond of Naruto... I also admire him secretly... Like Hinata and Sasuke, I admire his strength and cheerful persona... And I know he actually deserves better that's why I gave him friends and lead him to not be lonely anymore.

...

...

...

...

...

...

And one day... We will face each other on the battlefield...

I'm sorry, call me selfish or idiot. But our bonds won't make me stop from achieving my goal, Naruto... It's just matter of time... If I can't convince you to join me... Then, I guess, we will talk with our skills in the future... Asura...

Our times together... Grows shorter and shorter...

* * *

**Well? What you say? I'm done! Hahaha! **

**So yeah, there's nothing special in this chapter. Only return of Team 7 and Backup Team to Konoha**

**We also have Haku enter Backup Team! Now the team is complete! Hooray!**

**There one man who guess right about what happen between Haru and Haku, congratulations for that! Sadly that man don't have ID in fanfic, shame. That man actually follow my stories for long time! Hopefully he will make one soon!**

**Chunin Exam arc getting close! About the date, I follow it through the anime. According to English Dub, Hiruzen said the exam start in July! If I guess that right too. And yeah, it been three months after Haru and everyone become ninja! Their generation normally shouldn't take exam that fast actually, but they insist and the result only Shikamaru become one. And Neji probably too, had he not lose against Naruto I guess**

**Naruto fear of Kyuubi. Do I need explain that? It was very logical so I won't write it second times**

**Haru emotional, he does truly care to Naruto. However he have his goal set, and he won't stride away from that goal. That the reason why he become strong**

**The current Haru personality, you only going to see it before the Shippuden. He will be see more dark side of him later. Let act logical, who doesn't want to get Rinnegan? Everyone from our World clearly want that eyes, Haru is no exception. We all know how capable that eyes. Able to bring back death and possess power that make nuclear bomb like harmless gun is something that... ... Godly maybe? I don't know the right words :P**

**Anyway! I have good news! The prologue until chapter 5 is finally got beta edit! Why don't you take a look and read it back? Give me your opinion about it!**

**Next chapter will be revelation about Naruto status as Jinchuuriki to Shino, Hinata and Sasuke! A small comedy moment and opening of Chunin Exam Arc!**

**I need your all opinion about who Haru enemies going to be in prelminaries and final exam! Please give me your suggestion about that!**

**And one more thing, do any of you know link about Naruto character Databook Status? If yes then please tell me, it kinda annoying to check it one by one from Wikia x.x**

**That's all for this chapter! Stay tune to find out the continuation of this story! And don't forget to give Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	19. Revelation and Chunin Exam!

**This chapter has been edited by Frouade! All the credits for better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 18. Revelation and Chunin Exam!**

* * *

Silence echoed in living room as the five people who had spent their childhood together and shared everything until now were sitting together.

The group was actually split into two, one on the right while the other on the left. Two people sat on the right while three on the left.

Sasuke, Shino, and Hinata stared at Naruto and Haru who sat in front of them. Naruto appeared to be quite nervous while Haru remained impassive and was crossing his arms.

"So..." Sasuke started, "we already gathered, what did you want to talk about, Naruto? Haru?" he asked and his companion nodded and looked at the two mentioned people.

It was just after they have done their mission. Normally, Naruto and Sasuke would train together, Hinata, and Shino were also going to spend time together, but Haru sent clone and called them to the compound.

"Umm..." It was noted by everyone that Naruto was clearly nervous. He sweated slightly and his eyes also glanced at Haru few times making it very obvious.

Haru only stare back at Naruto with impassive look. The blond was very obvious asking him to help to start the conversation since he didn't know how to. Haru let out sigh while rubbing his temple.

"No... I won't help, Naruto, you have to explain it by yourself this time," Haru said.

"What?! B-But-"

"It necessary, Naruto, for your own good. You won't be able to hide it forever so it will better if you start to learn how you are going to explain things from now on."

Naruto closed his mouth at that and he clenched his fists. What Haru said was right, if he'll depend on Haru forever then it won't be good for himself.

"Just what do you want to talk about anyway?" Sasuke asked with annoyance, he really started getting impatient.

Naruto gave a glance to Haru again. The other boy only made a gesture with his head, telling him to get over it and Naruto gulped before he stared at his friends.

"Y-You all know... About the Kyuubi's attack on the village, aren't you?" He asked and this made the three Genins blink before looking at each other.

"Yeah... It was twelve years ago," Sasuke responded with nod before he scowled. "And what it has to do with gathering together?"

"I must agree with Sasuke," Shino added. "Why? Because the attack already happened a long time ago, thus there won't be any connection with our current lives."

"Y-Yondaime-sama was t-the one who beat it. U-Using **Kinjutsu (Forbidden Technique)** at cost of his own l-life," Hinata also added with nod.

"Well... Yeah about that..." Naruto gulped and everyone could tell he started to have hard time talking. "I-It was not... entirely true..."

At that everyone's response was just like what Haru predicted. Their eyes widened and disbelief was on their faces, even he could see Shino also did the same behind his collar shirt and sunglasses.

"What do you mean by that, Dobe?!" Sasuke asked again in firm tone.

"K-Kyuubi... Kyuubi can't be killed... The beast is too strong... Hokage-jiji even said he in his prime won't be able to beat the demon. And you all know how strong he is rumored on his young," Naruto told his friends and everyone nodded at that, the Sandaime Hokage rumored to be the strongest Kage in his generation. Having mastered all the elements and knowing more than thousand Jutsu, his students also became a legend.

How did they know? Well, having one of fanatic fanboys of Sandaime Hokage as your friend surely will make you know about it.

"B-But d-does t-that mean Kyuubi is alive? I-I mean w-where is it now then?" Hinata asked and Naruto appeared to be more nervous now.

"The beast can't be killed... It was absolutely too strong, even and Yondaime knew about this, even he can't beat the beast... So... Yondaime only could do one thing..." Naruto paused and took deep breath. "He sealed it... Into a child..."

Everyone immediately froze hearing that. Their shock increased to another level and Haru even could see their eyes so wide and their mouth opened because they couldn't suppress their surprise.

"Wait! What do you mean he sealed it?!" Sasuke asked again, clearly still having clouded mind. "How could a being like Kyuubi?! A monster, who is bigger than a house and even a small mountain be sealed into a small child?! That is not-"

"You can seal Kubikiribōchō into a small scroll," Haru interjected and pointed out at same time.

Sasuke turned to him and glared. "That is different! It is an object! Kyuubi is a living thing! How could it be possible?! And if that beast is as strong as you said why is it not breaking through from the seal?!"

"Indeed... I agree with Sasuke again. Why? The power of the Kyuubi is so big, even now there still are a few areas not fully recovered from its attack. What kind of seal possibly could hold a beast like that?" Shino added his opinion.

'Well, thanks **Shiki Fūjin (Reaper Death Seal)** and Uzumaki's longevity for that. Those two are complete combo for each other and are able to seal any being... Save for Juubi maybe...' Haru thought inwardly as he knew it needs Uzumaki to be host for Kyuubi. Not just normal ninja. "The seal must be a very strong one then..." Haru calmly replied. "You live in the World, where humans are able to spew out flame and walk on the water. How can you not believe into this one?" He asked simply making everyone stare at him like moron and Haru sweatdropped. 'Right, it's actually daily thing here. The theory that supports its possibility too in this World, stupid question.'

"You said a child..." Hinata murmured, her wide and shocked eyes never left Naruto ever since the revelation. Her voice also was low, but it was enough to make everyone hear it. "Does that mean..." she trailed off and there was horror in her voice now as realization dawning to her.

Sasuke, hearing that, narrowed his eyes, before suddenly his mind was back into the battle on the bridge and how Naruto was able to win. The memories of people giving glare to Naruto when they were together also flashed in his brain and his eyes widened.

"Oi... Oi... This is a joke, right?" he asked in disbelief as he stared at Naruto with wide eyes and shocked look.

"Now..." Shino's solemn tone added to the atmosphere as he stared at Naruto. "Everything makes sense... It is very logical what happened to you..." He stated and Naruto nodded with bitter face.

"Yeah... I'm that child... I'm host of Kyuubi..." he admitted with sad look and hollow smile.

There was a silence as everyone, save for Haru, stared at Naruto with shocked face. Everything now made sense, why people were glaring at him and shunned him. And the day he was born, why he never goes out on the festival during his birthday.

Naruto stared at his friends' expression and inwardly already prepared for the worst. He gulped, swallowed the lump in his throat and tried his best to hold the tears that threatened to split out from his eyes "Listen, I understand, if you-"

Whatever he said was being cut when Hinata rushed and embraced him in deep hug, making Naruto eyes widen in shock as he tried to register what Hinata did.

"You're poor child... You... Naruto-kun, you... I'm sorry... W-We... We should know it ever since beginning..." Hinata whispered softly.

"H-Hinata-chan?" Naruto called in shock and Hinata pulled herself from him. "W-Why? I-I'm the Kyuubi!"

"You are not!" Hinata yelled at him, shocking him further. "You are Uzumaki Naruto! You are not the Kyuubi! That demon is sealed inside you! It is not you!"

"H-Hinata..." Naruto stared at her with shock and surprise, he didn't know what to say.

"No matter who you are, even if you are Kyuubi turned into child, but you are still going to be my friend," Hinata softly whispered as she smiled to him.

"H-Hinata-chan..." Naruto's eyes began to become wet as tears emerged. He stared at Shino, who nodded and was adjusting his sunglasses.

"I agree with Hinata as well. You are my friend, Naruto, and that's the important thing. Besides, we are similar and I can understand your situation. Why? As you can see we, Aburame, carry bugs inside of us but it doesn't make us the bugs," Shino stated with a nod.

Naruto, at this point, already sniffed, even some tears already rolled now. He raised his hand and rubbed it with his forearm. He couldn't believe it, they are not rejecting him. They accepted him! They are also not afraid! They are! They are... the best!

"Hinata is right, Dobe," Sasuke grunted as he entered the conversation. "You are not Kyuubi, you are too weak and stupid to be a Kyuubi," he stated with smirk making Naruto's eyes twitch, he was about to yell, but another voice beat him.

"Hmm... Sasuke does have a point there, why? If you were a Kyuubi you would be stronger and not like this. Not like some child who can't perform simple **Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)**," Shino added while adjusting his sunglasses.

"Oh yeah?! If I am that weak, then why don't we find it out in the backyard now?!" Naruto demanded with angry look as he was waving his fist, having enough to be underestimated and insulted.

"Hmph! Don't think because you have Kyuubi you could beat me, Dobe. Once a loser, will always be loser. Usoratonkachi..." Sasuke replied simply as he crossed his arms and smirked at him while giving Naruto taunting look.

"Teme! I'm going to butcher you!" Naruto screamed as he lunged at him.

Hinata, Haru and Shino watched in amusement as Naruto and Sasuke started to grapple each other. All of them knew Sasuke only tried to lighten the mood now, that's why he insulted Naruto and started their usual banter.

"But... Haru-kun... You already knew it?" Hinata asked Haru, who on her side while crossing his arms.

"Of course..." Haru answered with a nod. "I already learned it when I was 10. But I never mentioned it to him, Naruto himself also learned it not long ago."

"When?" Shino asked with clear curiosity.

"When he became Genin..." Haru answered simply.

"I see... That was logical decision from Hokage-sama. Why? Because Naruto started to live as Shinobi, secret about Kyuubi better to be revealed just in case if Naruto accidentally use the fox power," Shino responded as he thought what Sandaime did was right and Haru nodded in agreement.

'But still... He didn't tell him about his parents... Well, that logical decision, it's best if he'll tell Naruto when he is old enough or Chunin.' Haru thought as he actually agreed that Naruto shouldn't know his parents yet. The blond is still too young, if Hiruzen wanted to reveal it he could reveal his mother instead of father. "Well, he will tell the others if he'll want. But he thinks it will be better if he tells you all his secret, you three are his best friends and closest ones, after all, and I agree that he shouldn't hide this to his best friends that are already like a family," Haru added his opinion and Shino nodded at his side while adjusting his glasses.

"Then... what are us to you..."

It was faint... Very faint, in fact it was barely a whisper and he actually wouldn't be able to hear it, had Haru not stood on her side.

Haru hearing that turned to Hinata, who was staring at the floor and had dazed look. His eyes were wide and if Hinata saw his expression it clear he was anything but calm.

'What she meant by that?' Haru thought with surprise before he regained back his calm face, however, he still kept staring at Hinata through the corner of his eyes. It was clear he was not mistaken, the voice belonged to Hinata, but... 'Could she be... No... No, she is not... It's just my imagination, perhaps... I'm just too paranoid due to all my plans going too smooth lately... Yeah that's it...' he reassured himself with a nod inwardly, however, he couldn't help but to still be bothered by it. 'But just in case...'

* * *

The next day.

I definitely didn't expect this...

"Let me go! You, commoner! How dare you do this to me?!"

Of all things I really didn't expect this to happen.

"When my father will hear about this, you will be punished!"

Really... It was just simple stalking... How the fucking hell it turned into this?

"Hey! Are you listening me?!"

"I heard you pretty well, Ojou-chan..." I said with sigh as I stared at the girl in front of me.

The girl was young... She was... 9 or 10 perhaps... She had tan for noble skin, long dark brown hair like her father with long parted bangs with single lock of hair falling onto her face and pearl eyes like all her clan trait. She was wearing sleeveless, blue v-neck shirt with mesh armor underneath; blue shorts and sandals.

She now appeared to be tied with single rope, hanging on the tree and struggling to get free from the bound. Before you all ask, yes this girl is not a normal girl, she is-

"My name is Hanabi Hyuga! Now untie me you peasant!" Hanabi demanded while struggling to get free.

You see, I still had a bad feeling about what Hinata said yesterday so I decided to follow her. I was expecting she may spot me given her Byakugan, but what I did not expect is I got spotted by her little sister, who was also stalking her. Dunno why though, I never tried to learn Hinata's relationship with Hanabi, when Hinata with me we often talked about improving our skills, hobby, food, etc, etc

"I will, if you promise me you won't tell Hinata then I will..." I stated.

"You are creepy stalker!" Hanabi scowled and I deadpanned, really? Really? You said that to me?! Then what I should call your sister?! "I should tell Nee-sama about-wait..." Hanabi paused as she focused herself and she stared at me for a moment before her eyes widened. "You the one that Nee-sama is always watching!"

She finally realized it...

Wait! I could play this to my favor!

"Stalk? You mean it was Hinatam who was watching me the whole time?!" I fake gasped in surprise and Hanabi's eyes widened further.

"Ah... ... ... Oops?" She said weakly before she calmed herself and try to regain her composure. "Ehem! No! I mean no one is stalking you! Why Nee-sama wish-"

"You are pretty bad at lying you know that." I cut her with deadpan look and she blushed slightly. A moment of silence surrounded us, followed by sounds of wind that breezed the tree and everything around us. I only stared at Hanabi with impassive look while she did the same. "I will tell Hinata it was you who blabbered out her secret..."

"You can't do that!" Hanabi protested immediately. "I-I-"

"If I recall, Hanabi-san," I cut her again, "You actually do not care to much about your sister. So why do you follow her now?"

Hanabi face morphed to troubled expression before she took deep breath and let it out. Then, her childish emotion were gone again and replaced with calm look Hyuuga always wear.

"I just wished to watch my sister... It seems she appeared to behave strange lately and I decided to observe her. She already has bad reputation in our clan, who knows what else she has under her sleeves," She said calmly as if she doesn't care about Hinata and I narrowed my eyes.

"So you still do care about Hinata's well-being... That's good, I guess," I grunted and she scowled a little. "Don't deny it Hanabi-san, I- ah damn it! I will call you Ojou-chan. That's more fitting for someone at your age."

"I'm Heiress of Hyuuga clan, you can't call me with-"

"I will treat you like adult when you get this," I cut her again as I tapped my forehead protector. "As for now, even if you are Heiress it doesn't change you are not adult. Ojou-chan suits you better," I decided with nod and Hanabi was clearly displeased by that. "Where was I? Oh yeah. Like I said, Ojou-chan, you care about your sister and I am glad for that. But what I didn't understand is why? After your clan turned her into black sheep and you, the Heiress of all people associate with her. Even if she is your sister..."

"What my reason is none of your business. Now untie me!" she demanded in stern tone and I would find it intimidating had her voice not be like a child throwing tantrum.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

PINCH! PINCH!

"AWW! Hewy! What awre wyou dwoing?!" Hanabi squeaked as I pinched her cheeks and stretched them like some rubber.

Ignoring her plea or whine, I kept pinching before moving upward and downward as if she was a toy before releasing them, leaving red marks on her cheeks and her eyes also had tears that threatened to go out.

"You are kinda cute, you know..." I said with chuckle and she glared to me though her cheeks flared slightly, don't know if it was from my praise or my pinch. "Shame all that charm covered by your mask..."

"It is not a mask, it is called proper behavior," Hanabi retorted angrily, albeit she still sounded calm. "As Hyuuga Heiress, it my responsible to appear elegant and mature. I just did what is best for my clan and what I destined for."

I blinked at the strange phrase she said. Destiny? Why she- ah right. I forgot, she was actually like Neji, when he was a prick before got beaten by Naruto.

"Destiny, eh? Those were pretty mature words for someone at your age," I mused aloud while rubbing my chin

Hanabi stared at me with stoic face, there was no emotion on her face but I could see curiosity in her eyes. "You are strong... I had seen you training when Nee-sama followed you. You are genius and yet, why? Why do you associate with outcast and failure?" she asked and I stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"Outcast and failure?"

"Naruto Uzumaki... And also my... sister..." The tone she used when mentioned Hinata was strange, it was as if she was very reluctant to spit it out. "I remember when I was younger, I saw you and Naruto Uzumaki in one shop. The seller yelled at Naruto, but you stood for him and even threatened him back..."

Ah... So it was that time... Yes, I remember about that one. It was when Naruto stared at one ANBU mask, the seller apparently got angry on him for no reason and yelled. I was on his side that time and well... Let's just say, that man got arrested by Uchiha Police Force due to my report for child abuse.

Unlike what all people think, Uchiha clan never harbored any ill intent to Naruto. They remained neutral and sometimes even helpful, don't know why, but, I guess, it was because Naruto holds Kyuubi the Uchiha clan understood what it meant being shunned seeing their clan got bad name after Kyuubi's attack.

"You saw that, huh?" I said with slight nostalgic look.

"Yes... I could understand if you were related to him at least, but you are not. So why? Don't you realize if you associate with him it will make you weaker?" Hanabi asked again.

I actually couldn't deny what she said is true. Training with someone who is weaker than me won't make me strong, I realized that ever since the beginning. True, at first when I trained with Naruto was helping since it increased my muscle reflex and experience, but now I don't need it anymore. You could say I got accustomed with how they fight and it seems they finally reached their usefulness for current time.

However.

"You still see the World in black and white, eh?" I said with amusement as I stared at Hanabi.

"What?"

"But can't be helped. You are still a little girl, after all..." I continued with sigh, then I began to pat her head. And ruffle her hair. "Let me teach you a small lesson, Ojou-chan, destiny is never set in stone. Everyone can change if they are willing to work hard."

"Ridiculous," Hanabi replied with scowl, "people's fate already declared the moment they born. It can't be changed, like a failure will always be failure. Like deadlast will always be destined to lose to a better one, it is absolute," she stated with firm belief, "and stop playing with my hair!"

I let out sigh and shook my head while stopping messing with her hair. Like Hinata, I found Hanabi was actually very adorable. Damn! I should have played with children more in previous World! Why did I not realize it sooner?! Damnit!

"Then what about the deadlast from academy? What is their destiny?" I asked.

"It obvious they will be failure in future," Hanabi replied, "if they are not good in the beginning, then what hope they will get in future? Our life to become Shinobi is not easy... If they are not talented or too kind for their own good, then they do not deserve to be one. It is only going to waste time and useless..."

"I see..." I muttered with amusement in my tone, it was clear I was not sad or angry but instead amused. Hanabi stared at me with stoic face, but there was curiosity in her eyes, I shook my head and cut the rope that bound her with single swipe of kunai, releasing her and caught her before she fell to the ground.

Hanabi seemed flustered when I started to touch her. But it was replaced by her stoic face and she glared at me again, not that I mind. I cut the tie and this time released her body from the binding.

"Well, I have other things to do. Ojou-chan, I will appreciate if you won't tell Hinata I followed her. After all, you don't want her to know you also followed her every time and blabbered one of her secrets," I said with smile and Hanabi scowled.

"Are you trying to blackmail me? Don't you know who I am?" Hanabi asked in challenging tone.

"A 10 years old little girl..." I simply said making her fuming. "Besides, this is only a small matter. Why do we need to make it big? Just make sure it stays between us," I added with wink and she scowled. "Okay, I already wasted enough time. See you later, Ojou-chan!" I saluted to her before turned away. As I began to walk I paused and gave her one last glance. "Did you know Jiraiya of **Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja)** was deadlast in his generation?" I asked and Hanabi's eyes widened in shock. "If his destiny was to become a failure, like you said, then, clearly, he wouldn't become a good ninja like now," I added with smirk then used **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)** and gone before Hanabi could ask a question or speak further.

* * *

Sometime later

"He what?" I deadpanned as I stared at blushing Hinata in front of me.

"M-My f-father said h-he wants to meet you..." Hinata said timidly.

It's been few days ever since my talk with Hanabi. Right now I was on my way to training ground to meet Yakumo, Haku and Genma.

There was nothing much happened these lately save for D-rank mission and training. Yakumo and Haku appeared to be accept each other's presence well. Haku and Yakumo in fact also talked to each other about their own bloodline, I must say for someone who was isolated Yakumo seems to make friends quite well.

Well with female friends, I guess. I've never seen her talking with boy other than me and Naruto. It seems, she is having hard time interacting with boys rather than girls.

And during that time since I had no idea what Jutsu I should create or do I only train myself in chakra control.

I admit, my chakra control is better than anyone in my generation, even better than most Jonins. I've been train chakra control for my whole life so it's just logical if my control is that good.

But I know that's not enough... I need to be better and better. I need to achieve Kage-class Shinobi level before Shippuden Arc begins. That is absolute and something I must reach.

In order to able to stand against Kage who are going to be my opponents in the next few years, I have to. I need to improve my chakra control better to the point where I will be able to fight Kage at young age.

I mean, Kimimaro could do that when he was 15! He was already Kage-level, right? The only reason he lost against Gaara is because he was sick! If he was not, then Gaara stood no chance against him!

He has Shiko... Shiko or whatever that bone bloodline! Okay, it was cool, strong and also very dangerous, but so do I! I possess Sharingan, one of ancient bloodlines too! So it should be a match, right?! Then I have no reason to protest or complaint! As long as I train to the point I drop dead, I will become strong like them!

Though, it would be better if I had Mangekyou... Then, again, if I would have those eyes I will go blind... *sigh* I guess, all power has its own sacrifice. Kimimaro was dying and couldn't be saved because Kabuto couldn't find a cure for him due to his unique body structure.

I'm ranting again, am I not? Anyway! Back to the track! I was on my way before Hinata came after me, so now here we are, you found me talk with her.

"Your Father, Hiashi Hyuuga the Head of the Main Family Hyuuga Clan wants to talk with me?" I asked while pointing at myself and Hinata nodded meekly. I let out sigh while rubbing my temple.

To be honest, I already expected this will happen one day... It was just matter of time, in fact, I am surprised Hiashi did not invite me sooner.

Well... Can't let noble family, especially Hyuuga, wait, right?

"When?"

"Ummm.. H-He said t-this weekend i-if you can," Hinata stuttered out and I hummed.

"Acceptable. Tell your father this weekend I will come at 07.00PM for dinner then," I said with nod and Hinata nodded back. "Where are you going to go anyway?"

"T-Training g-ground 8..."

"Eh? That's the one way with training ground 11, right? Let's walk together, then," I offered and Hinata beamed at that while nodding.

"H-Hai!"

We then began to walk together, I stood firmly and like normal while Hinata was blushing and never met my gaze like always.

To be honest, this girl is really not good hiding her crush/love. Really, she just became too shy! And here I was thinking she will get braver! But no! Why? Is it because she is still teenager? Well... That probably is, hormones could make people go crazy, after all.

"So, how is your training?"

"G-Good! I-I made progress with **Hakke Sanjūnishō (Eight Trigram Thirty-Two Palms)**. I-I was able to do it finally!" Hinata stated with smile and I perked up at that.

This soon?

"Really? That amazing!" I praised with slight awe. "I didn't know you complete it! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I wanted to. B-But you seem busy so-"

"Nonsense! I always have time for you! For my friends! Just drop by and call me!" I cut her while giving pat to her back and she blushed further. "Hinata, if you have something to talk about just say it and I will listen. You know you can believe me, right?"

Hinata's posture suddenly changed. Her body seemed stiffened and she paused on her track. Huh? What? What's wrong?

"Really?" She muttered in strange tone.

"Yes..." I said, still in quite jovial tone.

Hinata turned to me, her face slightly stern -which was strange mind you-. She opened her mouth to speak but-

"There you are! I've been looking for you..."

Hinata and I turned to see Yakumo approaching us. "Yakumo? Why are you here?" I asked.

"I came because you were late, and you are never late," Yakumo answered simply before she glanced at Hinata and her look contained slight envy. "And I see why now..."

"Kurama-san," Hinata greeted, her tone was surprisingly calm like her clan always uses.

"Hyuuga-san..." Yakumo accepted her greeting. "Not to mean to be not polite, but may I know why did you make Haru be late?"

"Really?" Hinata's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry for that, I just had a message to him from my father," She said and Yakumo appeared to be surprised.

"I see... What a coincidence, my uncle also wishes to talk with you Haru," Yakumo stated as she glanced at blinking me.

"Huh?"

"He said you could come this weekend and-"

"Sorry, but Haru-kun already has appointment with my father this weekend," Hinata cut her and Yakumo's eyebrows twitched.

"Really... Shame... Then, I will reschedule your meeting with my uncle then, Haru," Yakumo said as she stared at Hinata.

And I swear I did not just see lightning spark between them. Nope, not a bit. I also didn't see the vein bulging slightly on Hinata's eyes' corner. Lalalala, that was only my imagination.

"Now, if you excuse me, Hyuuga-san. Haru and I have a meeting to attend."

"Very well..." Hinata spoke out and I swear I saw her teeth gritted! "Sorry for disturbing your time..." Hinata stated before she turned to me. "Haru-kun, we will continue our talk later. Can you visit me after you are done with your team today?"

I really didn't know how to respond to that. The tone Hinata used was not the one that 'H-H-H-H-H-Haru-kun I-I-I-' instead now it turned into 'You better accept it or else' in sweet manner.

I know, love can make people crazy but seriously, jealousy too? Really? Really? REALLY?!

"If you say so..." I said in relented tone and Hinata beamed at that while Yakumo glare deepened.

Oh really Kishimoto? Really Jashin? Really Pein? Really Hagoromo? Really Hashirama? Really Hamura? Really Kaguya? Really? REALLY?!

FUCK WHATEVER DEITY OUT THERE! I DID NOT SIGN TO BE SHINOBI FOR THIS!

"I will be waiting on my training ground," Hinata mutter softly before she turned away and left by jumping on the roof.

Yakumo only glared at the leaving girl, I could tell she was upset. She grunted before turned to me. "Let's go, Haru..."

"Hai, hai..." I sighed. "Why did you come to check me, by the way? No offense, but normally Genma-sensei would be going to wait. It's not like I'm late that much..." I said.

"You are right. However, Genma-sensei said he has his own schedule, he will give us the schedule for our own for today before leaving. Something about becoming proctor..." She told me and I blinked.

"Proctor?" I asked, inwardly I felt I already knew what she was going to say.

"Yes... Proctor in the incoming Chunin Exam..." Yakumo answered and I blinked before inwardly I smirked.

So the time finally came, eh...

Finally... Now the arc I've been waiting had come...

I have so many things planned and prepared for this... Because this arc is where you could talk with foreign Shinobi legally and the guard while being tight is also at same time quite lacking...

Time to start my move...

* * *

**Oh yeah! We finally done it!**

**As you can see there nothing much in this chapter save for Naruto revelation. Though there thing about Hinata too**

**What Hinata mean actually? Why she said that? What actually she know and Haru not?!**

**And moment with Hanabi, I just have to throw it there because I found it was matched I guess. If you all wish to know despite Hanabi cold persona she still care to Hinata and she also act like child because she one**

**No matter how good children try to be adult they will always be children. Save for Haru of course, his soul is old and he have his own reason. Anyway, hopefully Hanabi not too OOC in here**

**There meeting between Haru and Hiashi too later! Hahaha this clearly unexpected, wouldn't you agree?**

**I guess this it. A short note, yeah. I kinda get bust latel, start having exam and etc you know. Maybe I won't update as fast as usual since my study really hard now**

**There people who asking me, how could you spend time sitting in computer and typing the story?! Let me share you little secret my friends, who said I write the story in laptop or computer? Bwahahahaha!**

**Anyway! Next chapter will be begin of Chunin Exam Arc! I still can't find good enemies for Haru later. Please give me your suggestion about his enemies okay?**

**And don't forget to give me Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	20. Dinner with Hyūga & Begin of Chunin Exam

**This chapter has been edited by Frouade! All the credits for better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 19. Dinner with Hyūga &amp; Begin of Chunin Exam!**

* * *

"How do I look?" I asked Naruto and Sasuke.

"You look handsome, Haru!" Naruto commented with big grin.

"Not bad... It is good enough, I guess..." Sasuke grunted while nodding and crossing his arms as he stared at me.

Currently, I was wearing formal black mixed with gray kimono. The kimono I wore was simple, yet also looked clean and elegant at the same time. This should be enough to appear in front of Hyuuga clan.

It's been few days ever since Hinata invited me to her place and today is the day I supposed to come to meet Hiashi. I have idea what he is going to speak of, actually, but let's see it directly later.

"Ne, ne. Haru, are you going to enter Chunin Exam too?" Naruto asked me.

"Of course I am!" I stated with a nod, there is no way I won't enter!

That's another topic, Chunin Exam. It appears, two days later will be the day Chunin Exam is being held. At first date of July on Monday, quite fitting, huh?

Like I predict, Genma enlisted us to Chunin Exam. Of course, after seeing our performance it's just a normal thing to do. We have Yakumo Kurama, who could use Jonin level Genjutsu, high-Genin level ninjutsu, solid-Genin level taijutsu, and Chunin level chakra control.

Then we have Haku Yuki, she could perform high-Chunin level Ninjutsu, low-Jonin level speed in her mirror, Chunin level chakra control, and most of her statuses are also Chunin level. She, by any means, should become Chunin, but, I guess, Hiruzen made her Genin because my team needs three members in order to enter Chunin exam.

And since Hiruzen can't just blatantly make foreign Kunoichi into Chunin, he decided to use indirect way. Pretty clever, old man, really clever. As expected from someone of your caliber.

"How about you two?" I asked.

"Of course, we are going to enter too! Kakashi-sensei nominated us!" Naruto declared while puffing his chest in proud manner.

"Really? Good, then hopefully we won't fight too fast in the exam later," I chuckled and Naruto's eyes twitched.

"Just you wait, Haru! Me and Teme here are already training super hard! We will beat you to sub... Subminion!" Naruto yelled and I sweatdropped.

"You mean submission," I pointed and Naruto blushed slightly while Sasuke snickered.

"Usoratonkachi..." He murmured making Naruto snap his neck to him and glare.

"Teme! Shut up!"

I only let out sigh as Naruto and Sasuke started their banter again. Really, these two are amusing and at the same time are also annoying. They train together, eh? That's why I often do not look at them, I wonder what surprises they have for me.

Though, I'm sure they will be strong, but I won't be sure they are able to surpass me. Not until they have their own special power.

There is a reason why I am close to them in first place, after all.

"Boys, play nice to each other!" I interfered as I went and grabbed their collar shirts and then separating them, like a parent, who held their children from punching each other. I placed them back on the ground and stared at them with look. "Now, I will go to Hinata's place. You two behave, okay? I don't want this place burned down when I return."

"What are you? Our mother?" Sasuke remarked snidely and Naruto snickered at his side while my eyes twitched.

"I'm your awesome big brother or father," I retorted with grin and pointed at myself making them roll their eyes. "Now be good boys until I return, Ja Ne!" I stated as I turned to leave and they only grumbled.

"Have a good night, Haru!"

"Hn! Return safely..."

I only gave them one last nod before leaving from the compound… Time to meet with Hiashi, man, hopefully it'll go smoothly.

* * *

Later, Hyuuga Compound.

"Welcome to our home..." Hiashi Hyuuga, who was wearing formal Hyuuga kimono said as he stared at me with crossed arms where his hand covered under the sleeves and stoic face.

I stared at him for a moment before I bowed my head down in formal manner. "Thank you for inviting me, Hyuuga-sama," I said and afterwards I straightened my posture again meeting Hiashi's gaze.

I noted there was a gleam in his eyes as he studied me. His eyes seemed dissecting me to find out something inside me. Don't know what but it was clear he was slightly curious of me. I, in return, only stared at him with impassive eyes, not showing any sign of emotion.

After a moment, he gave brief nod to me and began leading me to the dining room. Without words, I began to follow him while observing the compound.

Unlike Uchiha Compound, which seemed quite scary and lonely due to being abandoned and mostly never used, Hyuuga Compound was quite clean.

True, it seemed quiet, very quiet -as expected from noble family, they spend their time in silence mostly-. The decoration and the wood used also looked expensive.

You all had a brief look on the compound in the Naruto Last Movie, right? Where that place looks very quiet and gloomy.

The quiet part is right, but the gloomy is not. In fact, it was quite crowded here. I saw there were a few servants of branch family that were bowing to us as they walked past us. Hiashi only gave a nod to them while I gave low bow to return their respect.

To be honest, I start to doubt what Kishimoto portrayed in anime or manga actually is the same as the real one. True, the plot, history and the people stories are the same, but he clearly was not right in thing like this.

I mean, for once, the kidnapping of Hanabi in the Last Movie seemed very easy, right? But I doubt it would be very easy seeing there are dozens of Hyuuga clan members with Byakugan active.

And Kumo incident, while true it still exists, but there was one thing changed. For once, Hizashi body was not given that easily. In return, Konoha wished to get a few A-ranked Ninjutsu. Kumo did not win 100%, instead they actually lost if you look at it from military perspective.

See it like this: not just they got fake body but they also gave a few A-rank Ninjutsu. Why Konoha demanded it back? Because the fact that the Head Kumo Ninja was found in Hyuuga Compound in the middle of night is not something that can be tolerated. The ninja was guarded by ANBU when they entered the place, and not just he escaped from the guards but sneaked towards one of four noble clans in Konoha in the middle of night.

Diplomatic or not be damned. Kumo's ninja also broke the rule they had set, and those A-rank Ninjutsu were given to Hyuuga clan as well. Plus Kumo also paid a large amount of money to them.

Konoha is not called the strongest Hidden Village for nothing, especially at those times ROOT was still lurking around and legal. Oh yeah, clearly, Kumo paid dearly for what they have done.

Oh, and you might wonder, how did the Kumo ninja sneak into Hyuuga Compound? Here is my guess, there was a party for Hinata's birthday at that time and my guess is that night the guard patrol got minimized and also Kumo already suspected existence of Hyuuga's blind spot.

Noted that they just suspected not knew about it. So in order to make sure, they tried to kidnap one Hyuuga to study more. And the way the ninja sneaked in was also to test their theory about the blind spot.

Well, sadly their theory could be proven wrong seeing the Kumo ninja got caught before blabbering out the info and Hizashi body won't give any information about Byakugan.

See what I mean? In military perspective, Kumo clearly lost here.

I broke out from my mind when Hiashi opened a door, revealing it to be dining room. The food was clearly noble and quite good looking to eat, but something caught my attention. There was no sign of Hinata or even Hanabi, where are they?

"If are you wondering where my daughters are, they are still preparing. I invited you to come here early because I have something to discuss," Hiashi stated as if he was reading my mind.

"I see..." I replied in murmur.

Hiashi then began circling the table and sat at where the head clan should be while I took one seat. Hiashi stared at me with stoic expression, the expression that I returned with my own face.

"I've heard about you from my daughters, Haru-san," Hiashi started and I noted the plural word he used, which means Hanabi also spoke about me too. "You appear to be very skilled for someone at your age, especially from the rumor I heard from other Jonins in this village."

"It is nothing, Hyuuga-sama, I'm not that good. And rumor?" I raised one eyebrow. "May I ask you what the rumor is?" I clearly didn't know, to be honest, that's why I asked.

"You have taken down Aoi Rokushō. One of Konoha' missing-nin, the one that is responsible for stealing Raijin no Ken and Jonin from Amegakure," Hiashi answered and I blinked.

"I must admit, that is true. I have taken down Aoi Rokushō by myself, yes," I admitted with a nod. "However, you must know, Aoi Rokushō was not that skilled. He depended on Raijin too much, mind you, his skills were only average for Shinobi. Only his sword was that strong, it was able to nullify all my Taijutsu and Ninjutsu due to its power," I explained and Hiashi nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hmm, is that so... As expected from Raijin no Ken, the legendary sword that was wielded by Nidaime Hokage. So how did you beat him then?" Hiashi asked again.

"If Ninjutsu and Taijutsu not working, Shinobi still have Genjutsu," I said simply and I could see twinkle of understanding in Hiashi's eyes. "With Genjutsu, I was able to hinder his movement and it gave me time to cut off his left arm."

"Hmm... I see, continue, please..." Hiashi hummed while gesturing with his hand for me to continue and I did.

"After that, beating him was easy. However, I was not able to recover Raijin no Ken, sadly, and he was also able to escape. The truth I could go after him and finish my job, however, I did not, because I thought my comrades need me more. And it was proven true when I was just in time to save my teacher and fellow Genin from one of Ninja's last attack," I finished my story and Hiashi nodded again.

"I see... That was wise decision..." Hiashi said with approval in his tone. "But I'm sure Aoi Rokushō is still skilled enough to escape from Genjutsu from Genin. So how did you do that?"

"Having Kurama Heiress as one of your teammate clearly has its uses to Genjutsu performance," I simply replied with slight amusement and Hiashi made another understanding look. "And before you ask, Hyuuga-sama, any rumor about me and Kurama Heiress is a lie..." I added and the Hyuuga patriarch blinked at my statement. I don't know what rumor between me and Yakumo, but it's clearly a lie! That Genma, I swear I am going to pay him back!

"I see... Yes, there is a rumor about you and Kurama Heiress too." Hiashi voice contained slight amusement when he saw one my eyebrow twitched. "Then I will get to another point what I want to discuss with you... It's about Hinata and Hanabi."

"What about them?" I asked in monotone.

Hiashi shifted on his seat and his posture appeared to be stricter now before he spoke. "You have known Hinata ever since she was child..."

"Yes, I am..." I admitted with a nod.

"It was not a secret to people close to her about my act as choosing Hanabi to be Heiress and leaving her to Yuuhi Kurenai. I'm sure you also know that..." Hiashi stated and I nodded again. "I won't deny what I did actually had negative effect on Hinata..." At that I held back snort, he then took breath and let out sigh. "In truth I have never thought Hinata as talentless person. I know, she is actually just a kind girl, but sometimes she's too kind for her own good. Surely, you are also aware of that."

"I do..." I responded as I closed my eyes having small flashback.

"Her kindness... Reminds me of her mother... And her mother was not Kunoichi because she was also too kind. Hinata is exactly just like her mother, that's why I decided for her to be simple wife or something like that. I was thinking it was the best for her, but I never thought she is actually quite... Persistent... I guess, she got that part from me," Hiashi spoke and his tone was no longer stoic but contained memories and slight softness, surprising me a little. "Hanabi is, meanwhile, exactly just like me. She inherits my talent, my personality and also most of my appearance. You already met her so, I guess, you could see it by yourself, correct?"

I gave him another nod, my face never changed ever since the beginning. It remained impassive and showed not a single sign of surprise or thing like that.

"However, I am here not to discuss that. Let's focus on Hinata first," Hiashi said and his tone gone back to stoic along with his face. "Do you believe Hinata could become good Kunoichi? Could you imagine her to live in era where people kill each other?" he asked. "And I did not mean killing one simple person, but a group, a dozen, many at the same time. Could Hinata be capable of such thing?"

I know exactly what he meant. He meant the era of war, where people begin to massacre other people. I know exactly what he meant. He, himself, is sure Hinata can kill one or two people. But a group? Dozens? Or when war comes? No, he did not...

However...

"Yes, I can," I immediately answered in firm tone. "Hyuuga-sama, I've been with Hinata for a long time. I trained with her, talked with her, spent free time with her and other things. I know, she is too kind for her own good, but there is one thing you must know. She is protective toward people that precious to her, and I am sure she won't hesitate to strike with kill intent, if... Let just say if it was me. She won't hesitate to kill someone if I were vulnerable..." I said with steel look

Hiashi, who listened me, narrowed his eyes, his face did not show any emotion other than stoicism. "I do not mean to deny that statement. But let me ask you, we all know Hinata is barely even able to hurt animal. What possibly made her being able to strike down fellow human if she can't strike down even simple animal? Could you imagine Hinata stand not on the mission, but on the battlefield. Where war occurs and happens..."

Because if she can't explain to me why the hell she and Yakumo try to killing each other with glare! Have you ever seen her when she meets Yakumo? Nope, you haven't! Then don't say she can't kill people!

And also the next war will happen between all Shinobi vs Zetsu, not Human. So yeah, it will be fine, I know, she could do it.

Of course, I did not voice that aloud. That would be very stupid, though it was one of obvious points.

"Yes, I can... Hinata is still young woman, Hyuuga-sama. She is still not bloomed into full beautiful woman. If she get taught and directed on the right path then I am sure she can," I answered with strong belief.

Hiashi stare at me with his usual stony face. "And based on what your belief and faith toward my daughter? I, who is her parent, do not even believe in her that much."

"Because I knew her longer than you," I replied in monotone.

The jab I delivered was very obvious and blunt. 'I was there when you wasn't'. If Hiashi felt insulted or offended he clearly hid it since all emotions on his face were only stony and blank.

A momentary silence appeared between us as Hiashi and I stared at each other. Our faces were blank and stony, there was no sign of nervousness or thing like that.

Eventually, it was Hiashi who broke it as he closed his eyes and his shoulder slumped back slightly, indicating he was relaxed. "Tell me, Haru-san... Do you believe in fate of this World?"

"I do not..." I said and it's true. If such thing actually existed, then I would reborn and reincarnate in my own World. Not in this World, that was one of obvious point. "We forge our own way, everything is not decided by such simple thing. People can change, from failure to success. Destiny is not set in stone just because we failed..."

Hiashi gave brief nod at that, appeared to accept my statement. "A few days ago... Hanabi came to me and she brought interesting point..." he said. "She asked me about Jiraiya of **Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja)**. I'm sure you know about him, right? And I actually didn't aware that such great Ninja was deadlast of his generation. Tell me, how did you know it?"

I'm not surprised Hanabi told Hiashi, it was me, who told her about that. It was logical, I was thinking maybe the reason why he called me also because of this. Because what I said reminded him of what happened to his brother, who chose his own fate to die in his place.

"I learned it from Kami-sama himself," I said firmly and Hiashi blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"I learnt from Kami no Shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi," I declared in tone that held firmness and I swear, Hiashi put deadpan look for a moment before it was replaced by his usual stony face.

It was true, one day I asked Hiruzen about Densetsu no Sannin. And I asked about Jiraiya and Orochimaru, he told me directly how Jiraiya was deadlast while Orochimaru was the Rookie of the Year. And yet, in the end their skills are not different so much.

"I see... You seem to be close to Sandaime-sama... May I ask why?" Hiashi asked.

"There is no need to answer that. I am close to Kami-sama because he is Kami-sama! What other reason should I have?" I asked back in firm tone and this time Hiashi deadpan was not hidden anymore, it made me hold the urge to laugh.

"Very well... Let's move to another topic. There is a reason why I mention this. You see, I wish to express my gratitude..." Hiashi stated which made me blink.

"Gratitude?" I tilted my head slightly.

"Yes... It is thanks to you, my daughter seems to get a new light on her path..." Hiashi said with a nod. "As you can see, our clan believes in fate. Everything is already set in the moment we are born. Do you know the tradition of Main member and Branch member in our family?"

"I do. Hinata had told me about it..." I replied.

"Good, then I do not need to explain it to you. Surely, you understand what it is the connection with our belief, then? The moment the first one is born, he/she will become Main member while the second one becomes Branch member," Hiashi stated as he had a look that I couldn't decipher. "However... Lately I found that belief was... Not true..." Hiashi said with slight pause. "I was trying my best to give it to my daughters too. However, my youngest daughter already had her belief set due to my father and there was nothing I could do to change that. But thanks to your statement about Jiraiya-sama, she has found a new light..."

"I see..." I said simply. "You do not need to thank me for that, Hyuuga-sama... I-"

"Please call me by my name if we are in private," Hiashi said in approval tone and I closed my mouth then nodded before continuing.

"Hiashi-sama, you do not need to thank me for that. I only did what I believe is right..." I said modestly.

"No. It is better if Hanabi learns it now rather than later, when she learns it through experience. And normally people, who learn from experience always have bad side effects during those lessons. I am glad Hanabi learnt it the other way, and for that I want to say thank you," Hiashi spoke in soft tone, he even smiled.

In response I let out sigh before small smile also adorned my face. "Well... If the great Patriarch of Hyuuga clan said that. Then, who am I to deny such words?" I asked rhetorically with slight joke and Hiashi smile slightly widened before he chuckled. Wow, really? The great Hiashi Hyuuga laughed? Is this the end of the World?

"You are quite a blunt person, aren't you?"

"Many said that, and I won't deny," I replied with amusement in my voice and Hiashi nodded to me.

"Let's move to another topic..." Hiashi said and his smile was replaced by his stony face. "What is your intention towards my daughter?"

If I was drinking now clearly I was going to choke. The way the topic changed was like watching Dr. Jekyll turn into Mr. Hyde! It was too sudden!

"Excuse me?" I asked with blink and Hiashi only stared at me with stony look though I swear I could see small amusement when he noticed my expression before!

"During my observation of my daughter, Hinata. It was very clear she harbors feelings to you..." Hiashi said to me with narrowed eyes.

"Correction, she only has crush on me," I responded with impassive face. "Hiashi-sama, we barely reach teen age. Do you really will have this talk with me?" I asked almost in tone that said 'Really? Really?'

Hiashi in response on my words did not show any sign of emotion, he only raised one of his eyebrows. "I suppose you are right about that. However, I must ask, do you find my daughter unattractive?"

"By any means no, Hiashi-sama. Hinata is very beautiful, trust me. If I had daughter like her I would be proud, very proud, in fact, for her appearance," I defended myself and it was true, Hinata is very cute and beautiful. You must know, she is a perfect example of Japanese woman in my eyes, save for the eyes, of course. "But, currently, I don't have any interest making relationship or thing like that. I just started my ninja carrier, after all... There still are many things I wish to see and encounter..."

"I see... So you still have no interest to form serious relationship while being so young. I can agree with what you said," Hiashi said as he gave me another nod of approval. "You are very mature for someone at your age Haru-san, I'm impressed."

"Thank you for your compliment, Hiashi-sama," I replied while giving small bow.

"I will allow you to keep close to my daughter, Haru-san. I could see the way you treat her from my talk with her and you now are like brother and sister. But when the time comes and you will not be interested in her I hope you would make it clear sooner before it will be too late," Hiashi stated sternly. "I don't want my daughter to suffer broken heart, what I did is already enough. Don't add the salt on the wound, Haru-san, or there will be consequences..."

The threat was very blunt and obvious, but I was not intimidated and only gave Hiashi another nod with impassive face.

"I will, Hiashi-sama, you can trust me on that part," I replied and he nodded. "But... May I ask, Hiashi-sama, if I start to take interest in your daughter. Wouldn't it reflecte quite bad for your clan? I mean, I'm only orphan without status. Hinata is woman from Hyuuga Clan, one of four noble clans in Konoha, add the fact she is your daughter and also Main member," I asked with curiosity.

"You are right about that, but not all Genin could beat Jonin wielding Raijin no Ken by himself, right?" Hiashi answered my question with question. "I believe if you keep up doing what you did up until now, it is just a matter of time before you become famous ninja, Haru-san. And when that time comes, I guess, you will be worthy to court my daughter," He said and I blinked openly.

Wow, I have never thought he will approve me. No, I knew he will, but to have him openly like this. It seems, what I did to Hanabi made more impact than I thought. Oh well, it's not like I am interested in for now, anyway.

"I... Will see it when I get older, Hiashi-sama," I said with slight pause and Hiashi only nodded.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Otou-sama, we are done..."

The voice of Hinata from the closed door came through, ending our conversation as we turned to the door.

"You two may enter," Hiashi called and the door immediately opened.

As soon it did, my breath paused and my eyes widened at the sight. Gone now the white thick jacket she always wore, now Hinata was wearing beautiful white snow kimono decorated with red flowers and tied by yellow with red outline sash that formed ribbon on her back.

She was... beautiful... I must say kimono is really perfect for Hinata... It clearly shows purity and beauty of Japanese girl! By God! She was very adorable and beautiful for someone at her age!

I swear, I must be blushing since clearly I felt my cheeks hot! Damnit, hormones! Control yourself!

Standing on her side was Hanabi, she was wearing yellow kimono decorated with light-pink flowers and tied by red sash. One side of her hair was also turned to braid, similar to Yakumo.

""Otou-sama..."" Hinata and Hanabi exclaimed as they bowed to Hiashi.

Hiashi gave brief nod to them before telling them to sit. They immediately did as Hanabi went to her father's side while Hinata to my side.

"H-Haru-kun," Hinata called me in timid manner, blush adorned her face and oh God! It took everything I have to not glomp her now!

"Hinata... You look so beautiful..." I praised with smile and Hinata face brightened more at that.

"T-T-Thanks! Y-You a-also l-looking good!" She said with shy smile as she avoided my gaze and I only nodded. I turned to Hanabi, who was staring at us with stony look and I grinned slightly.

"Ojou-san, you look pretty adorable and beautiful too," I praised and Hanabi cheeks flared a little.

"Thank you. You are looking good as well, Haru-san," Hanabi responded calmly as she bowed to me.

I gave brief glance to Hiashi at corner of my eyes and noted there was slight satisfaction on his face. No doubts, because seeing me blushed before, so he still had a small pride in his daughter, eh?

"Well, since everyone here. Let's start the dinner," Hiashi said and we all nodded before we all muttered small 'itadakimasu' then we began to dig in.

"So... Chunin Exam will be held in two days again. Will you participate, Haru-san?" Hiashi asked me.

I gulped the food I ate and gave him a nod. "Hai, it appears my teacher also nominated me. Hinata here will also be participating, right?" I asked Hinata on my side.

"Y-Yes. K-Kurenai-sensei also did the same to us."

Hiashi slightly hummed at that, his face was stony as usual. "Then, make sure you will not embarrass our clan. Chunin Exam is not something that new Genin should attend, if you feel are not ready don't hesitate to back down," Hiashi stated and Hinata appeared to become more timid at that while giving meek nod. I gave slightly disapproving look to him, you love her? Really? This is not helping her confidence, ya know!

"Chunin Exam?" Hanabi asked suddenly.

"Chunin Exam is a test that Genin must pass in order to become Chunin. Unlike Genin, Chunin is ninja you could call is of different caliber from Genin. They have reached a level of maturity and ability that primarily consists of leadership skills and tactical prowess," Hiashi explained to his daughter.

"What the point to follow such exam?" Hanabi asked again.

Hiashi was about to explain again, but he paused and noticed my presence. "Haru-san, why don't you give another explanation to my daughter?" He asked and everyone turned their gaze to me.

I, who was in middle of chewing my food, gave nod before gulping down and wiping my mouth with tissue before turning to Hanabi.

"To show power... To show skills to the other Ninja that you are not just simply Heiress. Take Uchiha, for example, when they were all still alive, the head of Uchiha, Fugaku Uchiha, also was head of the police military in Konoha. It showed that Fugaku was not just simple head of Uchiha clan, but at the same time also head of the police force in Konoha, showing his strength and his leadership," I explained to the Heiress of Hyuuga clan in simple manner and Hanabi appeared to take this seriously and she seemed interested. "Another example, let just say, you are wife of Hokage and yet at the same time also Head of your clan, then, that will make your clan gain more favors and stronger position in the village."

"I see..." Hanabi muttered in understanding tone. "Thank you for your explanation, Haru-san..." She bowed and I smiled.

"Haru-kun or Haru is fine. Makes me feel old when Ojou-san like you calls me with that suffix." I stated with slight grin and her eyes twitched a little at annoyance much to my amusement.

"Fine then... Ha... Haru...kun..." She blushed when mentioned the last part, made me let out chuckle of amusement while Hinata on my side giggled.

Well... All in all, this night went better than I expected. What? If you want to know, I actually imagined Hiashi will threaten to give Juuken to my balls if I hurt Hinata, thankfully he did not.

"By the way Haru-san, what do you know about Juuken?" Hiashi asked me suddenly.

...

...

...

...

...

...

I just had to mention that, hadn't I? And now this World just threw it to my face as if it is mocking me! Well, looks like I will get threatened to be hit by Juuken in balls. Damn you Kaguya, Hagoromo, Jashin, Pein, Hamura, Hashirama!

* * *

Chunin Exam Day

"Are you ready, Haru?" Yakumo asked.

"Never felt better," I answered as I tightened my forehead protector. "How about you two?"

"The feeling is mutual," Yakumo responded with a smirk.

"I am ready as well, Haru-san," Haku said to me and gave me a slight bow.

Yakumo and Haku appeared to wear their usual Shinobi outfit, I meanwhile, had changed. Gone my gray and black tracksuit, now replaced by high collared dark purple t-shirt, along with ANBU armor, I also wore protectors on my forearms and forelegs along with black Shinobi long pants and blue sandals. On my back was sheathed single tanto that ANBU also always use.

My sunglasses were hanging in middle of my hair, making its spikes look sharper and also making my bangs slightly cover part of my forehead protector.

"I must say, I like your new look. No offense to the tracksuit but this... shows more of your skin..." Yakumo remarked with smirk and I turn to her with deadpan look

"Pervert," I said flatly.

Yakumo in response blushed slightly and shot me a glare. "That's not what I mean!" she retorted.

"Well, then elaborate, please, what you mean," I deadpanned. "I mean, the way you talked about it was-"

"I mean, this outfit reveals more of your body! Allows you to flex it better and also you won't get hot thanks to it!"

"You realize that clearly does not sound better, right?"

Yakumo only blushed more before she turned away, her blushing face and crossed arms made me smirk.

Haru 1, Yakumo 0.

"I didn't need to remark like that if I wished to. I already saw more, after all..."

And my smirk was gone, replaced by Yakumo, who had her own smirk. I only shuddered before edged away from her and closed myself to Haku.

I clearly didn't know how to respond to that one.

Haru 1, Yakumo 1.

Damn this woman...

"Yakumo-san, please refrain yourself from harassing Haru-san," Haku chided and small part of me was yelling approval of that while waving flag written 'You tell her, Haku!' "Besides, we have an exam to attend. Now let's get this started..."

We all nodded to each other before entering the Ninja Academy. We immediately move to the stairs and noted there was a crowd gathered.

I narrowed my eyes when I saw Izumo and Kotetsu in disguise. Oh yeah, it's them again and they are trying to bully the younger Genin.

"Haru... Isn't that..."

It appears, it wasn't just me who recognized them, Yakumo also did as she asked me while staring at the Chunin.

"Yes, no doubt they are the same person. They are clearly under **Henge (Transformation)**," I responded to Yakumo who narrowed her brown eyes at Izumo and Kotetsu

"You know those two?" Haku asked on our side.

"Those two are Chunin in disguise. We recognized them since they were also one of workers during our Graduation Exam," I answered to Haku, who gazed back at the duo Chunin.

"Then, what are they doing here?" she asked and I stared at the door title above the room, it was written '301'.

"It seems they already started to weed out the soft ones..." I muttered and both of them looked at me. "Look there," I gestured at the door title and both girls turned their head to it.

"301? But we just walked up two floors," Haku said with scowl. "So it means, that was..."

"Genjutsu," Yakumo finished with nod. "So what we do, Haru?"

"Leave it be. Those, who are not capable of recognizing such simple Genjutsu are not worthy to be Chunin. Let's go..." I told them and we nodded as we started to leave. I did not see any sign of Neji Team or Rookie 9, it seems we came early.

We passed through Izumo and Kotetsu without problem. They just gave us a glance and I returned it to them with impassive look. They smirked, I only glared. Oh yeah, I promised you two payback, right? There will be one, I assure you! Just be prepared, you assholes!

It wasn't long before we reached the top and the room 301. I gave one look at my teammates and they returned it before giving me nod of readiness. I nodded back then took slight breath before pushing the door open.

As we entered the room, we found it packed to the brim with young adults and old teenagers, mostly dressed in dark clothing with menacing auras.

There was small killing intent leaking from most of them, it was clear they tried to intimidate us. Now, compared with Ibiki or Zabuza, their killing intent was weak and it almost could be compared to puppy with tiger.

"These people don't know their places," Yakumo remarked from my side.

"Ignore them, why we should be dealing with insects glaring at us? Let's go there..." I pointed to an area and my teammates nodded before we moved to the area.

As we began to walk while ignoring glares from people, I suddenly felt strange sensation from my body. It... It as if some pulse of chakra just hit me. What is this? Is this...

Outwardly, I showed calm expression, but inwardly I began to think many scenarios. This sensation is the first time for me... It as if some signal just hit me and... A pulse? No, it was like sonar.

Some sensor ninja just tried sensing me.

Karin Uzumaki.

My face immediately twitched, my eyes began targeting some woman, who had spiky red hair across the room and it wasn't long before I found her.

Karin was looking at me with slightly wide eyes immediately had them wide open when her eyes met mine. I narrowed my eyes at her and she appeared to be slightly intimidated, I gave her small smile and winked before turned my face away.

Yakumo and Haku seemed to notice my behavior and asked me. I only told them there was nothing to worry about and they shrugged and accepted it, though Yakumo seemed more suspicious.

As we prepared to wait, I began to observe every participant. Now, where is the Trio of Suna, come on, crazy tanuki! Surely, you are not that hard to find. Ah. bingo!

Red spiky hair, fair-skin, dark marks on the eyes, kanji of 'Love' on forehead and carrying gourd. I finally found Gaara.

Sabaku no Gaara.

The strongest Genin... Not surprising, seeing what are you, and the monster inside you even gives you his power, **Ichibi no Shukaku (One-Tailed Shukaku), Suna no Keshin (Manifestation of the Sand), Suna no Shukaku (Shukaku of the Sand) and Bakedanuki (Monster Tanuki)**. The Bijuu that has control over desert and even unique Fūinjutsu, and also the weakest among the Bijuu -though it alone still could destroy half of Konoha in rampage-

Gaara must have noticed I stared at him as he tilted his head and turned to me. Our eyes met, blue-green and black raven. The time seemed to slow down among us as we were staring at each other.

Despite his blank look I could decipher what inside his eyes.

Madness.

Insanity.

Rage.

Hatred.

Anger.

Berserk.

And finally... A little... _Very_ _little_... loneliness... and solitude...

There were no positive emotions in his eyes... I couldn't find any single of it... All of them were buried and locked under those painful and dark emotions... What a poor thing... You... You are also one of victims of this Shinobi World...

To think... Such children... Have those eyes... You shouldn't possess those eyes... Those eyes shouldn't be in your possession...

"Whatever happens, stay here..." I murmured to my teammates.

"Eh?"

"Haru-san?"

Ignoring their calls, I took one step forward and I began to walk. I twisted my body and slipped between the crowd, ignoring their glares when I accidentally bumped at them. My eyes were still locked at those pale blue-green eyes.

I saw Temari and Kankuro on Gaara's side noticed I was approaching them. Gaara still had locked his eyes with me, there still was not a single positive emotion inside his eyes, only darkness.

It wasn't long before I finally reached my destination and stood directly in front of Gaara. The boy was shorter than me so I had to tilt my eyes down in order to meet his gaze.

Being near him already made my instinct scream to flee, my blood also pumped and flowed faster, it was almost like I will be fighting with him any moment now while in the reality we were only staring at each other.

My face was impassive, so was his. There were no signs of emotion displayed on our faces and I could tell everyone was staring at us, the tension built between us. Kankuro and Temari looked between me and Gaara, I could tell they were nervous -probably afraid of Gaara going to lash out here-

"Name's Haru, want to be my friend?"

The thick tension was broken by my words as I grinned and extended my hand to Gaara in friendly manner. I clearly enjoyed Temari and Kankuro shocked expression as they were gawking at me openly while Gaara's eyes widened in small portion, showing he was surprised at my offer.

"Friend?" Gaara asked in monotone and I nodded.

"You look kinda gloomy, so, I guess, maybe you need a small company. You three are from Sunagakure, right? Our village are allies, so why don't we be friends?" I asked as my hand was still extended and Gaara stared at me blankly. I swear, I could hear Kankuro whisper 'Is he crazy?' to Temari about me or something like 'He's going to die soon'.

I wisely ignored them, though my instincts also were telling me to get away from this boy. There was nothing but death aura radiated from him. And to think he will become Kazekage later.

"I don't need a friend. Go away or I will kill you..." Gaara said in indifferent tone as he tilted his head away and I blinked.

"Okay. That was the first time someone responded to my offer like that..." I murmured as I pulled back my hand and rubbed my chin like Professor calculating why his experiment is not working.

Kankuro and Temari only shot me deadpan look, but I ignored them.

"Maa, don't be like that. What's your name? Mine's Haru," I asked nicely as I tried to befriend him.

Gaara only kept silence.

I pouted.

"You have kanji 'Love' written on your forehead. Is your name Love? That's the strange name, you know," I asked and I noticed Gaara's body stiffened slightly, his fingers also moved indicating he is prepared to call his sand.

"Leave or I will kill you," Gaara said coldly as he glared at me and this time there was killing intent aimed at me.

No... It wasn't just normal killing intent...

It was filled with Bijuu Chakra...

**RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!RUN!YOUGOINGTODIE!YOUGOINGTODIE!YOUGOINGTODIE!YOUGOINGTODIE!YOUGOINGTODIE!**

All my body, mind and instincts immediately flared to life. My skin became pale and my eyes widened. The sheer amount of killing intent and fear he gave to me surpasses anyone! Even Zabuza or other ninja I had faced! Now it's Zabuza's Killing Intent that turned to puppy's compared to Gaara!

**DON'T TREMBLE!**

Something inside me roared, shouted and yelled at me. I didn't know what was it, maybe some subconscious, but miraculously I was able to stand firm in front of Gaara.

**TREMBLE IN FRONT OF KILLING INTENT?! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FACE MONSTERS OUT THERE IF YOU ARE GOING TO FEAR THINGS LIKE THIS?!**

I was still paralyzed, my eyes were wide and clear shock was on my face, but I did not tremble, I did not fell on my knees, I stood in front of him.

**DO NOT FEAR! STAND STILL!**

I stood still...

It may took a quite some time. But slowly my shock disappeared and I was able to regain my senses, though my skin was still pale and there was sweat dripping from my forehead.

"That... Was very intense Killing Intent, my friend," I said after pause and I could see Kankuro and Temari shocked faces, Gaara only raised one of nonexistent eyebrows while staring at me. "I believe, I still don't know your name..." I repeated.

"Sabaku no Gaara..." Gaara spoke, there was a hint of interest in his tone.

"Well, my name is Haru. From now on we will be friends!" I declared while giving him slight grin and Gaara was silent.

POOOF!

Our attention turned at big smoke that suddenly appeared in the room. From it Ibiki and a group of Chunin poofed into the room.

"Be quiet, you punks!" e roared while the smoke was still clearing. When it was gone, he stood at the front of the classroom, smirking. "I am examiner of the first test of the Chūnin exams, Morino Ibiki."

Ah, familiar face. It's been a while, last time I saw him I was 10 years old. I still see him from far though, but I didn't call or make conversation, not sure if he sees me or not.

Wait! Wait! It's already this far? Did I pay attention to Gaara too much that I missed Naruto and everyone's entrance? I turned my head and saw Naruto and whole Rookie 9 there. Eh! I really missed them? Damn! And here I wished to record Kabuto getting his ass kicked a little with Sharingan!

"…You are not allowed to fight each other during the exam unless given permission by the examiners. Even if permission is given, you are not allowed to kill each other. Pigs, who go against me will fail immediately. Understood?"

No one said anything.

I only turned back and saw Yakumo and Haku from far. Both of them shot me concerned look, I only gave them one thumb up and nodded, indicating I'm fine. They appeared to be still skeptical but nodded back to me, I could tell Haku was ready to flash to my side with her ice any moment.

"We will now begin the first exam of the Chūnin exams. Turn in your applications and take one of these number tags, and sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out papers for the written exam..." Ibiki said with steel look and I turned to Gaara before I raised my arm.

"Well, a handshake for good luck?" I asked with smirk and Gaara stared at my hand. Long. And. Hard. I swear, I even could hear crows or birds chirping outside plus the sounds of breezing wind like in anime movie, that was practically bitch. I finally relented and pulled back my arm and sighed. "You know, with that dark mark around your eyes and the way you looked at my hand, you just look like Racoon, who is checking some food," I stated while shaking my head, and I clearly took pleasure in watching Kankuro and Temari paled figures, plus stiffened Gaara. "Well then, see you later, Gaara," I said as I turned and left to take a number for my seat.

When I was sure my back is facing them, I allowed small smirk to adorn my face.

Objective complete...

* * *

Well... Isn't this fitting?

Right now I was sitting between the soon-dead Ame Genin and Karin Uzumaki.

You know, the ninja that got killed by Gaara, right? The one that was crushed by **Sabaku Sōsō (Sand Waterfall Funeral)** at the first time, the one that had his lip stitched on his other side. Yup that's him, I sat on his side now. Poor man, not even aware of the fate waiting for him.

I glanced to my left and saw Karin, she glanced back at me and I smiled.

"You are the sensor nin detected me before, right?" I stated and she stiffened. "Easy, my name is Haru. It's nice to meet fellow sensor nin."

Karin narrowed her eyes and shifted her glasses, slight blush adorned her face and she nodded. "My name is Karin. Nice to meet you too."

"Well, good luck then. We are clearly going to need it," I chuckled and Karin gave me slight look.

"Y-Yeah, good luck to you too," She whispered and I nodded.

I dazed off mostly as Ibiki began explaining the exam. I already knew the rules so I did not need to hear it. All I needed was to prepare myself for the second exam, in the Forest of Death. Oh yeah, there are so many things I could do there.

This one is risky, the chance I will survive is 60%. Sure, it can be 100% but I'm afraid it will make Orochimaru attention swift to me too much, something that I don't need seeing I am still not strong enough to beat him.

"BEGIN!"

I blinked when Ibiki barked, indicating the exam began. I looked down at my test and flipped it open then stared at it.

...

...

...

...

...

...

Well... I actually knew most of the answers, this is hard for Genin but not me. I am Genin only in tittle after all so it won't be a problem.

But still cheating, eh?

I tried to look for Yakumo, where is she? Left, right, front? If she is behind- ah damnit! She was behind me! It will be hard to help her! Haku is meanwhile in front and right, I could contact her more easily.

Haku tilted her head to me and met my gaze. I could see there was a question in her gaze and I nodded to her, indicating I understand the true meaning of this test and she smiled before returning to her test. Someone of her caliber could do this test without a doubt, she was protege of Zabuza, after all.

I stared down at the paper in front of my desk before I slightly smirked and began to work. Oh yeah, I will give a small prank to you, Ibiki. Izumo, Kotetsu you two are also going to pay! Muahahaha!

As I began to work, I noticed Ibiki walking to my direction. So, I raised my head and saw him, when he saw me he gave me sadistic smirk and stared down at me.

"Well, well. If this isn't the Genius Boy. You are taking the exam, huh?" Ibiki greeted me, making a few people stare at me.

"Ibiki-san, it is nice to meet you again. Though I never expected I will see you here..." I greeted back in monotone and Ibiki only grunted.

"Indeed, I am quite looking forward for your result. Now go back to your test, Boy," he said sternly and I nodded before resuming my work and he walked pass through me.

"Pssh!"

I blinked when someone whispered to me. Turned, I saw it was Karin.

"You know him?" she asked in hushed tone.

"We are... Acquaintances, you could say," I replied before resuming our work and she glanced at me.

"This test... It's about cheating, right?" Karin asked again, still in whisper as she glanced around to make sure no proctor caught her.

"Correct, Karin-san..." I replied with small nod while working on my test. "It's impossible for Genin to finish this unless you are very smart and love reading, so the only way to pass is to cheat. Find someone that at least has one correct answer..." I explained and Karin made understanding face.

"Do you... want to look at mine? I-I mean, I think I got a few parts and-"

"There is no need," I cut her again with smile and she blushed. "I could do this and thanks for your offer, I really appreciate your help. But you better be careful for yourself, Karin-san, since the proctor appears to be watching us," I replied as I pointed at one proctor and Karin followed my finger before her eyes widened when seeing the proctor appeared to write on his board.

The proctor smirked to me, I only smiled and waved my hand

Karin appeared to be scared and she returned to her own paper immediately. I gave a slight glance to her and smiled a little "Sorry for giving your hard time because you tried helping me, Karin-san. I promise I will repay it..." I said with conviction in my voice, Karin stared at me with wide eyes and her face flushed brighter as she shifted up her glasses. She didn't reply to my words, only continued working on her test.

Suddenly, I felt the temperature in the room slowly dropping. I could tell Karin on my side was openly shivering, a few Proctors also did the same and they seemed more intense to find out what was happening.

Heh... Haku already began her work.

I glanced at Haku and she also stared at me. I gave her code with hands and told her that I do not need help, just help Yakumo.

Haku appeared to understand my code as she nodded and began to settle her work and help Yakumo instead of me.

Oh well...

My test is done, and now all I need to do is only waiting.

"Alright! Time is up! I will now give the tenth problem!" Ibiki stated to us.

Finally! Ahhh! This is why I also hate written exam! The waiting time was damn fucking long! It was only 30 or 40 minutes, but it felt like forever! Ugh! Even in real World it was also like this! Damn you, paper exam! Just go to hell already!

"But before I do, a special rule must be given out. This is… a hopeless rule," Ibiki continued as he stared at us all. "First... You are all going to choose if you want to take this tenth problem or not. If you do not choose to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words, you will fail. Your two other team mates will follow behind you."

Cue the dramatic gasps and panic began to adorn a few people' faces, Karin on my side was one of them.

"And here is the other rule," He uttered. "If you choose to take it and you get it wrong you will have lost the privilege to take the Chūnin Exams forever."

Oh yeah, now those gasps turned into angry yells and even a few people stood and protested openly. I even heard Kiba's voice, something about other Genin having this test multiple times.

I ignored everything and focused on Haku and Yakumo. I gave them stern look, telling them to stay no matter what and they returned the look. Unlike Haku, Yakumo appeared to be afraid a little and I was not surprised.

Among Backup Team, Yakumo is the softest one, you could say. She is not like me or Haku, who is already aware of dark things in this World, she is still not mature enough. Haku and I, meanwhile, already are.

"That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those, who are not confident enough to take it can choose to take the exam next year, or the year after that."

There was slight pause at that, a dead silence that echoed in the room. One man put up his hand and soon it wasn't long before people began to follow his lead, many began to quit from the test just like in anime.

I then noticed Karin's hand was shaking, she appeared to be under pressure as her body twitched quite bad. I raised my hand and grabbed her shoulder, gaining her attention.

"Eh?"

"Do not give up, Karin-san..." I said firmly with stern look. "Trust me on this one, whatever the question. I have a feeling we will be able to answer it..."

"B-But-"

"Trust me on this, if you proved fail in here. Then, I will fail myself along with you."

Karin stared at me with pure awe face, her blush also reappeared and she tilted her face so she avoided my gaze. "W-Why? Why are you helping me? We barely know each other. Heck! We are even not from same village so-"

"Hmm... I don't know... Let call this intuition. Somehow, I have a feeling you will become great ninja in the future and it will be bad if you fail here. Besides, you also appear to be good person," I said with chuckle and she, having eyes wide open, stared down at her hand that was no longer shaking.

And I am also going to need you to be my pawn in the future. Your sensor skill is clearly going to be very useful, not to mention your healing ability and status as Orochimaru's subordinate.

BAM!

We all turned to Naruto who slammed his hand at the table and was already standing. I, seeing this, only smirked, already knowing the result.

"I'll take this problem. Even if I become a Genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what! I'm not scared!" He declared boldly before he sat down with huff.

Ibiki, who, hearing that, gave look to Naruto, his eyes were sharp and intimidating. "I will ask one more time. This choice will impact your lives..." Ibiki said. "If you want to quit, now is the right time…"

"I won't go back on my word. That's my nindo," Naruto bravery responded with grin.

At that, the atmosphere in the room changed. The tension released and I could tell many people won't give up anymore due to Naruto's speech. Heh, this kid really has his way, eh?

Ibiki, hearing that, observed the room, his eyes fell to the participants before he looked at me. I stared at him before releasing my pen and raising both my hands.

"What Naruto said," I spoke with smirk and everyone this time paid attention to me. "Even if we will become Genin forever, that's doesn't change the fact we still will be ninja and can reach our dream," I said to him. "Besides, wouldn't it be badass if you kick some Chunin or Jonin ass when you are only Genin?" I asked with amusement in my tone and smug face. "So you better give us your damn question already, Ibiki-san," I taunted with grin and Ibiki smirked.

"Still cheeky brat, aren't you?" Ibiki retorted before he stared at the room once again and his smirk widened. "Nice determination. Then, for the first exam, everyone here… passes!"

Aaand another uproar appeared.

Oh yeah, we finally finished this boring exam! Hallelujah!

* * *

**Eaaaaa! We done with the first part of Chunin Exam finally!**

**So how is it guys? How is it? The meeting of Hiashi and Haru and the exam**

**As for Hiashi, I try my best to write about him. I never think Hiashi actually bad father, he, himself admit that he love Hinata. There no way he give up to train her just because she talentless, especially after his brother dead. That should make impact to him in one moment**

**And thus I try to create reason for him, why he not train Hinata. Hopefully you all satisfied with that and he not too OOC I hope. I try my best to mimic his character after all and how he had change due to death of his brother**

**Hanabi. No matter how you think, she still a child. Even if she have unique mind, but if the proof is as big as Jiraiya of Sannin I guess she will accept it. Mind you Jiraiya is famous and legendary Ninja after all**

**Hyuuga Affair. Let be honest here, we all know that thing actually have so many plot hole. I just try my best to become as logical and realistic as it should be, SI while could same like Cannon but few things also have to change due to realistic reason. That the interesting point of SI after all. So I alter the story a little and give logical reason why the hell a ninja could sneak in to compound of clan who have Byakugan**

**As for Jiraiya status as deadlast. I don't think that public knowledge. Even if it does then all who know about it probably already very old**

**And here we also see Haru first exam began! Oh yeah, he already make his move. Heck! He even start to talk with Gaara! What he plan?! What he actually gain by close to Gaara?! Wohoo, that my friends is still mystery! Hahahaha**

**By the way, Haru enemies for the prelminaries and final still not decided. I hope you all could help me and give him fitting enemy**

**For Karin. It was obvious why Haru close to her, that girl was very useful in future and also have many abilites. Haru of course won't let someone like Karin escape from his grasp that easy**

**Anyway! Next chapter will be Chunin Exam Part 2! This one will be split into two chapter I guess. Or three perhaps seeing the situation. And there will be small omake for what Haru plan for Izumo and Kotetsu, hahaha!**

**And in response for Shin XIX question, Hanabi call Naruto outcast. Failure she mention is Hinata. **

**For TheWhiteReader, Kimimaro noted in wikia at least and could possibly Kage-level even if it only low. Though I must agree with you about High-Jonin since his status in databook is 31,5 or 30. At age of 15 that was very strong wouldn't you agree?**

**Well I guess that's all for now. I really need to sleep since it was 3.00AM in my place. Goddamnit! I'm so sleepy! So please give pity to this writer by click the favorite and follow mark plus write some nice review to lift my spirit up okay?!**

**Ja Ne! *yawn***


	21. Forest of the Death Pt I

**This chapter has been edited by Frouade! All the credits for better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 20. Chunin Exam : Forest of the Death I**

* * *

"So, this place is indeed place for Chunin Exam..."

I heard Yakumo murmured on my side as she stared at the dense and thick forest in front of us.

"The forest is... quite terrifying, I guess..." Haku remarked as she stared at the forest. Indeed, it was, the trees' size was not normal.

"Don't worry, it will be fine," I assured her while giving light pat on her shoulder.

Hello, everyone, Haru Uchiha is here. How are you all doing? Me? I'm fine, other than having to prepare myself to face other 78 people. Yep, pretty much, I'm fine.

"By the way, what happened with you and that Suna Shinobi?" Yakumo, who was on my side, asked.

"Indeed, Haru-san. I noticed you were frozen there," Haku also asked.

"It's fine. We just had a brief... greeting," I assured them before I became serious. "But, listen, if one of you is going to fight him, I want you two to run or flee..." I said sternly.

"What?! Why?!" Yakumo openly protested as she gave me a scowl.

"Trust me, that one is out of your league. I, myself, not sure to be able to take him down. So, you two are better be careful," I stated and both of them froze at that. I had sparred individually with Haku and Yakumo.

Haku was good, very good, in fact. We went all out, she used mirrors of hers and I released all my weights. I did not activate my Sharingan, of course –that is considered something else, you know, it shows just how good I am in public-

Simply to say, Haku is strong. Very strong with that bloodline of hers, and she is even faster than Genma too! But I still could take her down. While she is fast, her endurance is not that great, not at Genma's level, and I almost beat Genma without Sharingan and could beat him had I activated my Sharingan.

So it's just logical that I won against her, though, clearly, I also turned into walking cactus due to senbons sticking out from parts of my body.

Gaara... I could beat him... I could kill him if I wanted. A simple surprise attack, two Chidori, one to destroy his defense and the second straight to his heart and it will be over.

But I'm not sure if I could beat him when he goes into Jinchuuriki mode. That is something else to be calculated, and if he goes full Shukaku... Well, I don't think my Sharingan is strong enough to trap a full Bijuu into complete hypnosis. Maybe I could suppress it a little when he is still in half form but when he is in full? I don't think so.

I am not afraid of Gaara, but I am afraid of Shukaku. Among all Bijuu, as I am aware, he is also one of a few, who are not stable. Always yelling about killing people or things like that.

"Y-You sure Haru? B-But, for Genin to be stronger than you is..!"

Absurd.

That word was not voiced by Yakumo, but I could hear it as if she just spoke it. Yakumo herself is aware I am on different level, she had witnessed my battle against Genma herself and knows just how good I am. So, when some Genin is stronger than me exists, that clearly needed to be questioned.

"Maybe... I don't know, but you must know, Yakumo-san. Don't fight him alone, at least double him with Haku..." I lectured her slightly and she nodded.

"If you say so..."

"And Haku, it applies to you too. Don't deny it, think it as... Ugh, order from me..." I said with slight distaste and Haku smiled.

"Hai, Haru-sama," she bowed to me like a servant meeting their master and I frowned.

"It Haru-san or Haru..." I grumbled while rubbing my temple.

This girl really something, you know. She may stopped calling me Haru-sama, but that's only on public. She still calls me that in private much to my annoyance. This girl really has servant complex.

A bark of Anko' voice snapped me out from my thoughts and I turned to see her explaining the test. Then, she pulled out consent forms, telling everyone that they need to sign it if they want to continue. After that, she went to back to explaining mode while all the papers were being passed out.

It was a survival test; all teams worked individually. Each team was given a single scroll, the scroll was either an Earth Scroll, or a Heaven Scroll. If you were given an Earth Scroll, you had to attack and steal from another team with a Heaven Scroll. You were not allowed to open the scrolls. You could kill; anything went. When you had both scrolls, you and your team were supposed to head to the tower in the center of the forest. We had five days to complete this challenge or whoever else was left was disqualified. We had to fend for ourselves -hence the survival part-, but be careful of the poisonous bugs, plants, man-eating animals, etc, etc. We also were not allowed to give up in the middle of the exam unless we wanted to die.

Oh yeah, sounds pretty fun.

And no, it's not sarcasm but honest opinion.

Here I could go all out without having to hold myself. In truth, I never knew just how strong I am. Against Aoi, that man was very weak, a simple high level Genjutsu from Sharingan and he was done for -I should have used that on him ever since beginning-. Against Genma, I held back, I didn't use Chidori, Rasengan or even Sharingan. Mind you, my level when I activate my eyes is different.

Sharingan, by any means, is a really powerful tool and I'm not lying. It gives you photographic memory, immunity to Genjutsu -save for Tsukuyomi or from another Sharingan- or ability to cast strong ones, read the flow of Ninjutsu, ability to cast strong hypnosis, reading and predicting enemies' movement like you watching TV, ability to copy and mimic someone's movement with perfection in one glance.

It's called **Tengan (Heaven Eyes)** not for nothing. Those abilities could change the battle tide with ease. Sasuke, who couldn't follow Naruto in their first battle at the Valley of the End could totally outmatch him when his Sharingan evolved, proof to show just how dangerous these eyes are.

If I activate my Sharingan, I dare to say, I could beat Kakashi in our first fight due to surprise element. And if he also will not use his Sharingan. Though, I doubt it will be easy battle, Kakashi is, after all, pretty strong.

So yeah, I am pretty confident in my skills. I'm very sure I could even beat Naruto, who just finished his Shippuden training.

"Haru! Haru!"

"Uh? Huh?"

I turned to see Yakumo scowling at me, she was holding some scroll in her hand while tugging my arm. Haku, on her side, also stared at me with concern.

"You dazed again... We should go to our gate now," Yakumo called and I made a grunt.

"You are often doing that lately. Why?" Haku also asked me with worry. "Do you have something in your mind, Haru-san? Perhaps I could help and-"

"I'm fine. Just thinking about... things... Let's go to our gate and make a plan."

They nodded to my words, Yakumo began to walk away while Haku followed her, but she gave me one last glance of concern. I only sent her smile of reassurance before also began to follow them.

Forest of Death... Feh... Let's get this started...

* * *

Later.

"So... What's the plan?" Yakumo asked Haru.

It had been half hour after the gate opened and they entered the forest –again, for Haru and Yakumo-. Currently, we found our favorite team in one of the forest areas, surrounded by dense trees around them.

Haru only kept silence at that, he closed his eyes before sending pulse of chakra to surroundings, trying to detect if there is someone hiding and listening them.

Finding there none, he nodded in satisfaction before opening his eyes again then staring at Haku and Yakumo.

He pulled out scroll from his pouch and unfolded it while placing it on the ground as he took crouching position.

"We will not run at full speed for a half hour." He was drawing on the scroll, forming circle on it. He also made drawing of square in the middle of that circle and then split it into two parts. "So our location is probably... Here." He made a small circle and pointed on it in one place, quite far from the square in middle.

At that point Yakumo and Haku finally were aware that Haru was drawing the map of the Forest of the Death. It was normal for them, but what made them surprised is the drawing was exactly similar to the map that the proctor just showed before.

"That was..." Yakumo murmured under her breath, but Haru was able to hear it and smirked inwardly.

The first time he came to this forest was three months ago, when Izumo and Kotetsu showed him the map he already memorized it with Sharingan. So, he already had the image of the map in his mind.

"This is the first day, no need to be in rush. It also depends on luck, who knows, we may encounter enemies during our normal travel and said enemies may appear to have a match for our scroll..." He stopped and turned to Yakumo. "What is our scroll again?"

"Heaven," Yakumo said as she showed the scroll and Haru grunted slightly.

"We need to look for the Earth. There are 27 teams, including us, one of them carries extra of Heaven or Earth. Here is our plan then, we divide and separate ourselves. Haku and I will go and find the scroll. You, Yakumo-san, meanwhile, will go near the tower directly," Haru stated making Yakumo blink.

"Huh? Why I should go to the tower? And why it has to be me?" Yakumo asked in incredulous tone. "And, please, stop calling me Yakumo-san! Why you are still calling me with that name?! Heck! You even call Haku here -who you know just for two weeks- less formal!" she said with scowl and waving her hand in exaggerating manner before she smirked slyly. "Do I have to call you "Haru-sama" too? Very well, then I-"

"Alright! Alright!" Haru cut her immediately. "Yakumo, then..." he muttered, he didn't want to have Yakumo call him that. Unlike Haku, he doubted Yakumo will have reservation about blatantly calling him 'Haru-sama' in public. And if people hear it, he won't get the end of it. Especially, if Hinata will be aware, dear God/Jashin/Hashirama/Pein/Kaguya/Hamura/and Hagoromo he already could imagine the headache he will get.

"But, Haru-sama sounds better now I speak it aloud," Yakumo said with stern face as if she really was considering to call Haru like that. "Maybe I could-"

"Denied!" Haru cut her again with flat look. "And talk about this later, we are in hostile area now!" he added making Yakumo look sheepish and he cleared his throat. "Back to the topic. Yakumo, I send you near the tower to capture team, which already gathered the scroll," Haru stated and Yakumo's eyes widened in realization

"An ambush plan..." Haku said with nod. "So Yakumo-san will capture the team that is already near the tower and finish their test. That is very smart, Haru-san!" she said in slight awe.

"And seeing Yakumo specializes in Genjutsu, she could make a lot of traps covered in Genjutsu. That is clearly her biggest advantage..." Haru finished and nodded back to Haku.

Yakumo appeared to be thoughtful as she pressed one index finger to bottom of her lip and hummed. The plan sounds good, clearly it was. However... "It won't be only us planning like this, isn't it?" she stated and again Haru nodded.

"You're right, someone must have similar plan. That's why, we will take you there together. I know, you are strong, Yakumo, but just to make sure you will be fine. We will separate when we are done." Haru folded back the map and gave his teammate a look. "There could be some ambush or attack that catches our guard off. Remember, when we get split, even if it's only a moment, make sure the person come for you is real..."

Yakumo and Haku immediately understood what he meant. Here, they are surrounded by over than half hundred people that act as their enemies. There could be ambush anytime, and they could disguise themselves, in other words an impostor.

"We need to put a code between us," Yakumo stated. "Any suggestion?"

"You two already know what my bloodline is. When we meet, demand it to me immediately show my special abilities. I won't even hesitate to show to you two. And it will give me awareness that you two are real..." Haku suggested for her and both of them knew about that.

Haku possesses personality similar to servant-complex or tool-complex. So, if she demanded to do so, she will do that for them. Even if there is an enemy in front of them.

"Well then, Yakumo you could-"

"I will find it out by my own way. You don't need to know," Yakumo cut him with steel look, which made Haru narrow his eyes at that.

"I feel our next meeting will be unpleasant," Haru said bluntly and Yakumo smirked.

"It will be pleasant, I assure you," Yakumo replied making Haru edge to Haku while hugging himself in covering manner.

"Yakumo-san, for the fifth time today. Please refrain from harassing Haru-sama," Haku sighed as she closed her eyes and pinched bridge of her nose. Really, she is like Yakumo. She appears to be a good girl, but her obsession towards her Master is something.

Yakumo in response only put haughty expression while crossing her arms and leering at Haru, who hid behind Haku. The boy was about to speak but paused and his body stiffened.

This went not unnoticed by his teammates as they saw Haru slowly stood up firm and closed his eyes

"Haru?" Yakumo called and Haru eyes reopened, his expression was slightly stern.

"A group is approaching us from nine o'clock," Haru stated and both his teammates put serious face.

"Do your specialty, Haku. Yakumo, hide yourself. I will be the bait..." Haru ordered and both girls nodded. Haku performed one-handed seal and gone with swirl of water, Yakumo also did the same and her body slowly dissipated like mist, indicating she used Genjutsu.

Seeing both his teammates were gone, Haru used his sensor again and found the signature of the enemy team getting closer. He started to walk like a normal Genin that got lost as he began to move his head left and right.

"Haku! Yakumo! Where are you?!" he shouted as he pretended to be lost.

He could feel there were three people watching him not far from his position now. He ignored them and kept yelling his teammates names while acting like someone lost.

And it wasn't long before he heard voices, something flashed in the wind and soared to him. He pulled out his tanto before he blocked all the projectiles that aimed to him perfectly.

Narrowing his eyes, three figures soon dropped from the tree. All of them were men and not a single woman, they were fellow Konoha Shinobi, but he did not recognize any of them.

"Not bad, brat," one of them remarked with a grin. "But let's get to the point, you are alone and there are three of us. You graduated just a few months ago and we are already more experienced. So why don't you just give us the scroll if you have it? If not, then you could come with us and be our hostage. We don't want to kill you because we are fellow Konoha Shinobi," he offered directly as he didn't want to waste time.

Haru response was only sheathing back his tanto and for the moment the three older Genin thought he will give up willingly. But, suddenly, to their shock, the boy mouth bulged before-

**"Katon : Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)"**

It was clear the three older Genin were shocked seeing Haru just performed technique without hand seals. It was not surprising, giving Haru had trained chakra control ever since he entered this world, a few Jonin are capable of performing Ninjutsu without hand seals if they wish to, but, sometimes, it takes more stamina.

Haru had no problem with that. He found out he actually could perform 6 Chidori in one day. He was quite surprised that time but now he thought logically, Kakashi only could perform Raikiri a few times because he is not Uchiha. He uses Sharingan to enhance his vision in order to take care of the tunnel vision problem and, since he is not Uchiha, it takes quite large amount of chakra from his body.

But Haru is Uchiha, he's natural to Sharingan. Add the fact his chakra already reaches Jonin level, makes him very capable fighter.

However, the three Genin proved they are not just barking. Even in their surprised state they were still able to move and dodge the attack as they scattered.

Just like what Haru predicted.

As soon as one of them jumped away and landed on the ground, the Genin was granted pairs of senbons that soared to his neck. They hit the spot as they pierced through his neck from the side making his eyes bulge out before darkness claimed him.

"What the! Hiroshi!" one of the Genin yelled in shock, his teammate also showed shocked look.

That momentary shock had given Haru chance to move. Had Haru been only normal or slightly advanced Genin, the senior Genin would still be able to anticipate Haru just in time. Sadly, Haru is anything but Genin.

With speed that would even make Gai proud, Haru appeared in front of the Genin. His arm trusted forward, already clenched into fist and it struck the man in middle chest.

The Genin let out pained gasp, blood flowed out from mouth and his eyes bulged out before his body flew like just pummeled by giant woods, crashing to tree and breaking it into two. The Genin won't wake up soon, that was obviously guaranteed.

The last Genin snapped out from his shock, seeing all his friends were taking down like children instilled fear in his mind. He unconsciously took step back, panic adorned his face.

**"Fūton : Reppushō (Wind Release : Gale Palm!)"**

A sudden burst of wind appeared and it hit him from side. That hit quite hurt, but it clearly was not enough to put him down.

Sadly for him, Haru was already there. His right arm extended open and with fast speed, he dashed. Bringing the arm and connected it to his throat made the Genin choke as the impact to his neck combined with the wind force proved to be too much.

His body spun in air, rotating like some akin of shuriken and slipping through Haru arms before he fell to the ground with his back first and met the same fate as his other friends.

Haru stared down at the other Genin below him with impassive face. This went like he thought. By any means, the battle was not fair seeing there was him and Haku.

Haku is Chunin and even Elite Jonin level Kunoichi, perhaps. Haru, dare to be said, himself is capable becoming full Jonin, the only thing he lacks is experience, but soon it won't be a problem anymore seeing there will be a big battle ahead since he already entered Canon moment. And while Yakumo is quite weak in close range fight, she is one of the best supporters with her Genjutsu. She could perform Jonin level Genjutsu with a little problem if she wanted, her chakra control also could be compared to Chunin.

Yakumo and Haku soon appeared and approached him. The reincarnated man turned to them with slight smile. "Good job everyone."

"It wasn't too hard," Yakumo grunted. "Let's get check the scroll."

Haru nodded in agreement as he crouched and began checking the unconscious Genin for the scroll. Soon, he found the man did not posses it and turned back to them. "Go check the others."

Yakumo and Haku nodded back to him before they went to check the other Genins. It was Haku, who found it, the scroll was with the Genin that was called Hiroshi.

"It's Heaven too," Yakumo said with scowl seeing they got the same scroll.

"Oh well... That's disappointing," Haru remarked as he also scowled slightly. Though he was quite glad inwardly seeing this meant he still will be able to move freely in this forest, there were so many things he wished to do here.

"So what we do now?" Haku asked.

"Stick to the plan. Yakumo, you carry one scroll, but hide it when you make a trap. Make sure you do not bring it with you just in case if you lose," Haru explained.

"I assure you, Haru, I will be more than capable by myself," Yakumo said feeling offended, sure, she was weak in close range. Even though she had trained with Haru, but she needed more practice to become better, the only thing she could be proud of is her Genjutsu and chakra control.

"I know, I just..." Haru let out sigh and raised his hand to rub his temple. "I am worried about you, I don't want you to get hurt," he spoke softly while staring at Yakumo and it was true. One on one Haru was confident in Yakumo' skill, the only one who possibly could beat her was only Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Shino and Team Gai. But if fighting group at once happens, that would be different. She could be taken down by the group if the group's teamwork is good.

The Kurama Heiress in response blinked before she blushed, taken back by suddenly soft and gentle Haru' tone. She crossed her arms and looked away to avoid his gaze.

"I will be fine, you do not need to worry," Yakumo said in her best nonchalant tone.

Haru, meanwhile, still gave her concerned look but slowly he nodded. "You are right, you are not a baby. If you play your abilities right you can take down full Jonin..." he said with small smile and it was true. Yakumo, by any means, is very strong in Genjutsu. If she used her bloodline, she could destroy the whole village. Proved when she put whole Konoha in Genjutsu and all she needed to do is painting that was destroyed.

True, afterward the weight of her bloodline is probably going to kill her, but the village still will be destroyed. And destroying a village large like Konoha is not easy feat, mind you.

Yakumo gave a glance to Haru and slightly smiled. She was happy Haru paid attention to her and gave his concern, but it could be annoying, thankfully, he seems to realize it and fixed his mistake. This guy is quite understanding, as expected from someone she picked to become her future husband, now, if only she could swat away that Hyuuga from Haru's mind.

"As much as I hate to interrupt, isn't it better if we move now?" Haku said entering the conversation and Haru gave a smile to her while Yakumo put calm look.

Haku...

This girl is not after Haru's affection or feelings, she could tell that. This girl sees Haru as a role model, as Master and superior. But that does not mean she is not a threat to her.

The problem and agreement are between her and Hyuuga. Haku is dangerous for them.

No, it's not like Haku would try to seduce Haru, but it's the opposite. Haru seems to be very fond of the girl, he treats her like precious treasure, helping her and often spending time with her ever since she came.

She could understand if Haru tried to give Haku her mindset as human being back seeing she thinks of herself as disposable tool, but the problem is the attention Haru gives to her is not normal.

The ice user Kunoichi, of course, enjoys the presence and comfort from Haru and, true, she is not showing any signs of affection, but Yakumo has feeling it's just matter of time before she also falls to Haru if things keep going like this.

And that is clearly going to be a problem in the future.

"You're right," Haru said. "Let's go then, we will travel in one line. I will be in front, Yakumo in middle and Haku behind."

Yakumo and Haku nodded to Haru, not having problem with that. The Kurama Heiress watched as Haru began to jump and landed on a tree before she decided to follow him. For now, she couldn't think about romance, they were in hostile area. It will be better if she would finish this first and think about the rest later, there is no time to think such things about romance in this place and they are also still young, after all.

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Okay, maybe she is quite hypocrite, seeing she is always blunt and close to Haru, but on her defense, his expression when teased are priceless! It's not her fault Haru just happen to be so fun to be molested! Really!

Haru, who was jumping through the trees, suddenly shivered. He felt someone just thought about him in a wrong way.

* * *

Next day.

We found our... Hero? No, he is not a Hero. Clearly, he is not, seeing what he did and what his goal is, so we go to... Little dark? Anti-Villain? Yep! Anti-Villain is probably better. Okay, let's redo this.

We found our favorite Anti-Villain with crossed his arms and thoughtful face. His cloth is slightly covered with dirt, so does his appearance, but there are no wounds or harm upon his body.

"Damn. I wonder where he is now..." Haru grumbled.

He was trying to track down Kabuto, he really was. No, he was not going to kill him, but Haru wanted to fight him. He wanted to see how far he could fight against someone like Kabuto.

True, he had faced Genma, but fighting against Kabuto is different. That boy could match Kakashi by his skills, something he wanted to see by himself.

Surrounding him were... Unconscious bodies... Six bodies, which meant two teams... All of them were not moving, like dead... Their bodies were covered by blood or had limbs bent to strange angles.

Oh wait, they were not like dead bodies, they were dead bodies...

The corpses were... Ninjas from Konoha... All of them were from Konoha...

'Hmm... I have two Earth Scrolls and two Heaven Scrolls. This makes things better. True, I could go back now, but if I recall...' Haru narrowed his eyes while putting hand to his chin. Today supposed to be the day where Orochimaru strikes Naruto and his team. The snake found them on the second day.

Oh yeah, he already had a plan for him. But this will be risky, Haru knew he was nowhere near Orochimaru's level. He still needs years to prepare himself, even if he has element of surprise, Orochimaru will still be able to beat him, he is sure of that.

Staying away from him and not getting his attention is actually the best thing to do... He also already made agreement with Haku and Yakumo that they will meet again tonight.

His sensor suddenly alerted, someone was approaching him. Just one person, who was it? Whoever it was, he couldn't let him/her see him standing in middle of Konoha Shinobi corpses since he, himself, is also one.

He quickly performed hand seals and clapped his hands together when finished. **"Doton : Chidōkaku (Earth Release : Moving Earth Core)"**

The earth beneath the group of corpses suddenly shacked before it elevated down and turned into hole. Haru performed another hand seals and clapped his hands together again, then the ground shacked once more before it began to twitch and close the hole, burying the bodies.

Sweats poured down from Haru's head. That was a high-level technique, he was able to perform it thanks to Sharingan, however, the prize is clearly very big seeing it took a lot of chakra.

But it was worthy, he just hoped the person that's coming does not have a good sense of smell since it will be dangerous.

'It's near!' Haru moved his hand to his tanto on his back, he stared in the direction from where the enemy will come. It was not long before the person arrived, however he/she seemed to not come out, it appeared he/she still was wishing to hide.

Narrowing his eyes to where the person hid, Haru really had no time to play cat and mouse so he decided to get to the point "I know you are there!" Haru called. "Show yourself before I force you to!"

The tree he was staring on twitched before from it a figure burst out. Haru immediately recognized this person, of course he did. After all, this person appeared to have quite a role in this World.

Twin bun hair like Chun-Li or Minnie Mouse, wearing pink sleeveless outfit and long Shinobi pants. This person was someone from team Gai, Tenten.

"You could tell my position," Tenten stated with slight smirk. "Interesting, how did you do that?"

"Tenten-sempai, wasn't it?" Haru asked while tilting his head and Tenten seemed surprised seeing Haru knew her. "I recognized you during academy, you are one year older than my generation," he stated while moving down his hand from his tanto.

"Hoo? You are a rookie, then?" Tenten asked back while rubbing her chin with interested look. "If I recall I'm not that famous in academy and you recognized me? Do I have some fan?" she chuckled in slight amusement.

"As matter of fact, I do respect you a lot," Haru admitted with nod, surprising Tenten again. "Unlike most Kunoichi, you are prime example of one. You take your training seriously and know how hard life will be, most Kunoichi from our age are... incompetent," he said with slight pause and Tenten giggled, there was slight blush on her face.

"Well, I never thought I will have a fan," Tented said in slightly sheepish tone and she was being honest, she is quite a tomboy and also average looking in her opinion. "I know what you mean, most girls are only interested in romance and don't know the seriousness of becoming Kunoichi," she stated, but suddenly her demeanor changed into serious. "As much I flattered I have a fan, but no offense, Kouhai. This is the Exam, so what scroll do you have for me?" she asked as she now pulled out one kunai from her pouch, twirling it in her hand.

"Call me Haru," Haru answered calmly as he did not feel intimidated. He pulled out his complete set of scrolls and showed them. "I already have a complete set..." he stated and Tenten grinned in slightly feral manner.

"Well, could you give me the Earth?" she asked in nice manner, it would be nicer had she not made strange motion with kunai in her hand.

"Sorry, Sempai, I can't... Even if I have extra one I still won't give it to you," Haru said as his hand moved to his tanto again.

"Oh? Greedy one, aren't you?" Tenten remarked while rising one eyebrow.

"No," Haru shook his head. "I just wish to face you, fighting Kunoichi like you that take their training seriously will be a good experience," he replied and Tenten blinked before she chuckled.

"I began to like you more now, Junior. You really flatter me, don't think I won't pull back my attack because you sweet talk to me," Tenten stated as she pulled out small scroll and held it in her other hand.

"I wouldn't hope so, Sempai," Haru replied as he took a stance and prepared himself.

Tenten only smirked to him, this boy was quite interesting. Without warning, she immediately lashed out the kunai in her hand to him. Haru, seeing the incoming projectile, was about to move his tanto but paused when noticed something. Instead of blocking it, he dashed away dodging the projectile.

As soon as he did that the kunai exploded, indicating it had explosive seal tagged to it. Had Haru blocked it he would be engulfed in the explosion.

Just after Haru dodged it, Tenten was already in front of him. She was carrying twin wakizashi in both her hands and quickly she delivered slash at him.

'Fast!' Haru thought as he raised his tanto and blocked the weapons, he took a step back and dodged the second slash from Tenten. The older Genin did not give Haru chance to strike, she moved her leg forward and gave another attack in order to strike down Haru.

The two Genins continued their battle as they began to collide their weapon at each other. Haru noted that Tenten was pretty agile, she rivaled Hinata or was even better. Not as Haku, but still impressive, as expected from Kunoichi, who went under training of Maito Gai.

Sounds of clashing steel echoed in dense forest as Haru blocked the attacks, but he always dodged the second ones. If there were any spectators they all could tell Tenten clearly the one who currently had advantage as she kept attacking Haru fiercely.

Tenten knew this boy was actually more than he looks. The fact he now possessed two scrolls is proof of that. This boy was quite skilled, but this far he did nothing other than defend. She scowled inwardly since it was clear this is getting nowhere.

"Come on Junior! Is this the best you can do?" Tenten taunted slightly as she gave another slash.

Haru face was impassive and calm as he blocked the attack, there was no emotion and his eyes bore at Tenten face. "Don't get overconfident, Sempai," he said before he parried away Tenten's attack, he quickly took small jump back but as soon as his feet touched the ground he immediately kicked it and with fast speed he already carried the short sword with two-handed grip and swung it downwards at Tenten.

The girl was caught by surprise at the sudden speed, however, her body was still able to move as she raised up her twin wakizashi and blocked the axe-slash.

CLAAANG!

'Gugh!' Tenten's eyes widened as she winced in pain holding the attack. 'He's strong! At Lee's level, perhaps! This is not goo-' Her thought was cut as Haru pressed his tanto further and this time she got pushed away. She let out small squeak as she felt her body floating, fortunately, she still was able to balance herself and landed on the ground, her feet skidding on it.

Haru stared at Tenten, who was pushed away, with impassive face. He didn't let Tenten get free that easy and, in instant, he dashed and appeared at Tenten's side with tanto ready.

'He is also fast! Could give Lee some challenge! Is he really a rookie?' It is understandable to say that Tenten was shocked, the speed Haru was displaying is not something to be gained with ease, after all, and there was his strength too.

She took a step back and the tanto barely miss her as it grazed her shirt, slicing it in part of abdomen and ripped it apart. Had she be one second late that would be her guts sliced.

Haru pivoted his leg as he twisted and delivered spinning slash to Tenten. The girl this time decided to make a distance, fighting at this range won't be good seeing his strength. She jumped back before throwing the twin wakizashi at him like it were projectiles.

Haru paused in the middle of his steps and blocked the twin swords without problem. Tenten was not giving Haru to strike her again, not when she was vulnerable like this. She drew out numerous shurikens and threw them at him, all shurikens' directions were flawless and the aim also was pretty good, they targeted his head, cheeks, shoulders, and thighs. All of them came from right, left, below and above, proving it was professional aim.

Due to the wide area, Haru was forced to jump back creating distance between him and Tenten as he skidded on the ground staring at Tenten who also stared back at him.

"You are not bad, very good for someone, who just graduated from the academy," Tenten complimented as she stared at Haru.

"Thank you, Sempai, you are pretty skilled as well," Haru praised back. "It was quite a speed you pulled back there, you almost got me. Very surprising for someone at your age," he stated before giving small smirk. "Then again, it's very reasonable seeing your teacher is Maito Gai."

"You know about that too?" Tenten couldn't help to be surprised again, this boy clearly knew more than she thought.

"Of course. I am one of people, who admire you. Surely, I will do research to find out more about you, right?" Haru answered the question with question back as he smirked a little to Tenten.

Tenten, hearing that, narrowed her eyes before slight shudder adorned her figure. "You... You are not some kind of stalker, aren't you?" she asked with slight fear in her voice, she really appreciated and glad someone respected her that much, but if it turned to be stalker level then that was something else.

"Of course not," Haru said with scowl and Tenten let out sigh of relieve. "You are beautiful, cute and strong girl. Your body also shows perfect contrast to your figure. All in all, you are perfect girl. So why should I stalk you?"

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It was just logical now Tenten face turned to tomato. To be honest, it's not often she had someone compliment her appearance. Her teammate is someone, who... has strange belief of fate and could act quite prickly while the other one is... very eccentric... Add the fact she is quite tomboyish and plays with weapons, no one dares to make a move on her without fear to lose their balls.

So, now having someone spoke to her in that way was... interesting and new.

It took a moment for Tenten to regain her composure as she gave deadpan look to Haru. "You know, when you are saying it like that it only makes me believe that you are stalker," she stated dully making Haru chuckle.

"I know, I am just joking," Haru responded and he clearly enjoyed Tenten's cute scowl and her reaction. "But I was being honest about your appearance, Sempai," he stated and Tenten blush returned. "Anyway, let resume our battle, I am looking forward to seeing your Shurikenjutsu." He was indeed interested in Tenten, the aim she gave before was wide and yet also targeted important parts of body.

The wide target forced him to dodge since he couldn't just block them all with ease, not without risking getting hit. Even if she was hasty she still was able to throw shurikens with perfect aim, that is the proof of Tenten's level in Shurikenjutsu which is on different level from Genin. She is probably already reaching Chunin in that part.

"Oh? You want to play, Junior? Then, let's..." Tenten said as she pulled out shurikens and Haru also did the same as he put back his tanto and moved his arms to his pouch.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Sounds of air being ripped by projectiles and clashing steel immediately appearув and echoed in the dense forest. All the shurikens clashed, creating small sparks and impacts in the middle of air.

The Genins' hands blurred as they moved from their pouch, throwing with intent to strike their opponent. The hands were fast and blurred, true, they still could to be seen but the speed and aim they displayed would even impress Jonin level Shinobi.

The star shaped projectiles kept being thrown like bullets from machine gun by both Genins. The destroyed each other pushing each other away from their owner. The clash made the steels collide away and shatter to all directions, up, above, left, right and everywhere.

Tenten's eyes narrowed, this boy was clearly skilled seeing he is able to stand toe on toe with her. It was very surprising seeing she got this skill in years of training, was this boy really just graduate?

'She... is more skilled than I thought, I know my Shurikenjutsu is also pretty good and to think she could be on par with me... This girl is prodigy in terms of Bukijutsu, this girl...' Haru thought with narrowed eyes as he kept pulling weapons and throwing them at her.

It was only a few seconds, not even reaching a minute but for them, for both Genins it was like an hour. Eventually, they stopped, stopped because it was clear they ran out of ammunition from their pouches but just in instant they stopped, they dashed to each other.

CLAAAANG!

Another sparks were created as Tenten and Haru own weapons clashed with each other. Tanto met with wakizashi, grinding each other, trying to overpower their enemy.

They both then jumped back, creating distance between them. Tenten gave challenging grin while Haru face curled up to slight smirk.

"That... was amazing, Junior, I didn't hold back my aim and yet you matched them all," Tenten said with respect in her tone. "Are you sure you just graduated? Or are you Rookie of your generation?" she could understand if he was, this one clearly looks like prodigy. But if she recalled the Rookie is one of Kakashi Hatake students, her teacher's rival.

And it was clear she had met them just before the first Exam, Sasuke Uchiha...

Lee had said the Uchiha was not bad, in fact, he could go toe on toe with him. True, Sasuke seemed losing, but when he activated his Doujutsu the Uchiha was able to match Lee's speed and movements.

For Genin just graduated, that wasn't bad. Though, Lee still did not remove his weights, but it is still something.

And now, there is Genin, who could match her Bukijutsu, she, of course, did not go all out but still.

Interesting.

"It's Sasuke, who is the Rookie. I am merely average one..." Haru said, chuckling. "And I must say, I am very impressive. To be honest, I have never met someone that close to my age who could match my Shurikenjutsu. As expected from Sempai... You are really strong Kunoichi..." He smirked and Tenten did not bother to hide her giggle of amusement.

"You are funny guy, Haru-kouhai," she teased with sly smirk. "If only there were more people like you, it would be more fun for us, Kunoichi," she sighed while shaking her head.

Haru was about to ask what she meant but stopped. He tilted his head to sky and narrowed his eyes, Tenten, of course, noticed this and followed his gaze but found nothing.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Haru face remained impassive. His sensor ability was, perhaps, only reaching 1 or 2KM but that was still something. All sensor ninja had sharp senses and were sensitive to chakra.

Just for the brief moment he felt it... For sensor like him, that chakra, while being far from him, he clearly could feel it. Who couldn't feel it? Even beginner in sensory art will be able to sense it.

Haru closed his eyes before turning to Tenten, he reopened them and smiled a little. "Sorry, Sempai, but we have to delay our battle for a moment. I have... something to do..." he said with pause and displeased look. "As for payment, I shall give you the scroll you need. Which one?" he asked making Tenten blink.

"Earth," she answered unconsciously and Haru nodded before tossing it to her and she caught it. She immediately checked if the scroll contained explosive tag or a trap but found none. She then stared at him in bewilderment. "You are just going to give it to me like that? Really?"

Haru, in response, raised another pair of complete scrolls.

"Oh..."

"Oh indeed..." Haru chuckled in Tenten's face. "It was fun, Sempai, I hope we can continue our dance later," he clearly enjoyed the slight blush on Tenten's face, yes, this is a go according to his plan. Get Tenten's attention, and be friends with her. To catch prey, you have to be close with it, let its guard down, become its friend, and become its comfort.

Then eat it...

It was the rule he learnt in this World, the rule he always uses since the moment he entered this place.

Kill or be Killed.

"See you in next part of Exam, Sempai!" Haru called as he leapt back and gone making Tenten gawk.

There was no blur, no swirl of leaves, no dirt, no movement. Haru just simply disappeared like he was never there. It was like... Teleportation?

What was that? **Shunshin no Jutsu? (Body Flicker Technique)**. But... Shouldn't Shunshin leave something at least?

"Man... That guy is interesting..." Tenten mused aloud with giggle. Unnoticed by her, small blush adorned her face as she let out feminine giggle.

* * *

Sometime later.

Haku stared at the man in front of her. This man clearly was not ordinary.

She was Zabuza's protégé, his tool and weapon. And Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of Kirigakure was also known as Master of Silent Killing.

So it was just natural for her, his weapon, to be able to perform Silent Killing. True, she may not be as good as Zabuza-sama, but she was still good.

And no ordinary Genin could escape from her if she performed the feat. Even Chunin would get caught.

But this man... This man dodged it swiftly, true, she was not aiming to kill, but he was able to notice her and block the attack, proving this man was not a normal Genin, just like her current Master, Haru.

"Ah, Kunoichi-san, hello," the man greeted with forced smile as he raised one hand in greeting manner. "Could you let me go? I didn't bring any scroll with me."

"You don't need to lie," Haku said surprising him. "I know, you are not a normal Genin. The way you dodged that attack proofs you are very skilled. You must possess the scroll or even already have complete one." She deducted and the man's eyes narrowed. "If you may, could you give it to me? I need to have Earth scroll."

The man only shook his head and shifted his hand up to adjust his glasses. "Sorry, but I can't. I also need one..."

"I see... Then, I am afraid, I have to take it by force," Haku said as senbons slipped between her fingers and her eyes sharpened, the only thing she needed to become perfect tool like when she served Zabuza was her Kiri Hunter Nin Mask. "What is your name?" she demanded in monotone.

The man's smile became dimmed, he let out sigh while shaking his head. His silver hair moved left and right by doing that before he stared at Haku and adjusted his glasses again.

"Yakushi Kabuto..."

* * *

Orochimaru chuckled as he stared down at his former pupil, who was writhing in pain due to activated Cursed Seal.

He just marked Sasuke not long ago and he must say, he was impressed with the boy's skill.

True, it was nowhere close to him when he was at his age, but Orochimaru could see the untapped potential inside the boy. The boy clearly will be strong vessel in the future, there is no doubt about that.

But he inwardly scowled when remembered Sasuke and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki relationship. They are close, no doubt about that... Very close, in fact... That Kyuubi boy is going to be a problem in the future.

Not just it hinders Sasuke's growth, but it's going to make Sasuke harder to conquer. Add the fact there will be a problem with Akatsuki too.

But still... He couldn't kill that boy... Not yet... If that boy was killed by him, Sasuke, no doubt, won't come to him anymore. That would be a problem.

The boy still had darkness inside his heart, he could manipulate it and the boy will come to him if he plays it right.

"Don't you think it's impolite to eavesdrop?" Orochimaru spoke aloud, his gaze was still on Anko, but soon changed as he tilted his face upward.

Anko perked hearing that. Someone is here? Reinforcements? She followed her former teacher's gaze and had to hold the urge to gasp.

Standing on 180° and staring down at him was a boy. A boy with slightly spiky brown hair. The boy was wearing sunglasses and ANBU garment; the forearm, armor and foreleg protectors. Underneath it was high-collared dark purple t-shirt, he also wore long black Shinobi pants.

**"Katon : Hōsenka no Jutsu!"**

The boy cocked back his head and spew out countless small flaming balls much to Orochimaru and Anko surprise seeing the boy didn't perform any hand seals.

'Sealless Jutsu? At that age? How interesting.' Orochimaru jumped back as the barrages of flames poured down between him and Anko, he skidded on the ground while staring at the boy who was now standing in front of Anko in protective manner. Kunais armed in both his hands and his posture clearly told Orochimaru that he was ready to fight.

"You are..." Anko recognized this boy. He was the one that caught Ibiki interest, he also came and asked information from her about the scarred Tokubetsu Jonin.

"Mitarashi-san, are you okay?" he asked.

"I-I'm fine!" Anko stammered while clutching her seal. "Moreover! Why are you here?! Get out! Don't you know he-"

"Orochimaru of Snake Sannin," he cut her as he stared back at the Snake Sannin. "I know well about him and the other Densetsu no Sannin **(Legendary Three Ninja)**." He narrowed his eyes. "You said about Uchiha before... What did you do to him? What seal you gave?!" he hissed.

Orochimaru almost fell on the ground laughing. A mere Genin threatened him? HIM?! Either this boy was very foolish or brave, he actually though the first one. But still, this boy heard that far? Orochimaru admitted he was surprised inwardly, he just sensed the boy not long ago and he was sure no one heard his story save for Anko.

So how this boy was able to sneak on him? Hmmm... Interesting.

"Are you crazy?! Hoi, you are that Haru brat, right?! You-"

"Let me be honest, Mitarashi-san, do you think he will let us escape? He is Sannin..." Haru said with stoic tone, crossing his fingers a poof of smoke appeared, followed by his clone.

The clone without words immediately grabbed Anko and raised her in bridal style. The older woman blinked in bewilderment seeing this.

"What the! Oi, brat! You better be-"

"GO!" Haru barked and the clone was immediately gone via Shunhin that was almost like a teleportation, soon screams and yells of angry from Anko echoed.

"I don't know either if I have to praise your bravery or laugh at your idiocy," Orochimaru said with clear glee in his tone as he stared at the boy, he was really interested. "You know, you will get problems after this."

To be honest, Orochimaru had no interest to attack Anko anymore. He already got what he wished for, but now seeing this boy... Why don't humor this boy a little.

"I know, but it's better to have Tokubetsu Jonin survive rather than Genin," Haru said with stoic face.

"Kukuku, indeed, it is true," Orochimaru responded.

Haru stared at Orochimaru, his face was impassive and the Snake Sannin couldn't help but have a flashback of certain Uchiha, his face in past, seeing the same expression on the boy.

Without a word, Haru was gone. He reappeared above Orochimaru and gave axe kick at the man. With ease, Orochimaru raised his hand and blocked the kick.

But Haru did not stop. He landed quickly on the ground before delivering multiple attacks with both his kunais.

Orochimaru decided to play a little. He was sure, he could beat this boy with ease, but there was something intriguing him. So, he dodged the attack easily, while smirking at him.

"Is this the-"

Orochimaru paused and his eyes widened when he saw the boy radiate smoke from his body.

BOOOM!

And without warning he exploded. Orochimaru was just in time to swap himself with nearby log and dodge the explosion.

'Not just Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) but also Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion)? This boy is quite skilled to know such technique,' Orochimaru mused inwardly while hiding behind the tree. However, his eyes widened when sensed presence behind him and he spun around, raising his hand to block the incoming fist.

CRACK!

That... definitely was the sound of his bones breaking.

Oh yeah, the fist he blocked broke his arm, snapped it like a twig and he winced in pain. This boy fist is superb! It was not like Tsunade's, of course -that woman could shatter your whole body with one fist-, but it could be compared to the third rate!

However, Orochimaru was accustomed to pain, he was not silly person who gasped and writhed under pain. Forcing his broken hand, he grabbed the boy's fist and locked it. Then, he quickly delivered knee strike to the boy's stomach.

Haru gasped as he got hit, the hit was strong! Okay, he swore he heard a part of his ribs cracked a bit! Before he could do anything, Orochimaru other hand blurred, it slip to his neck and grasped it tightly.

"Gagh!"

"Kukuku, I admit that punch was certainly familiar, Boy." Orochimaru chuckled as he choked the boy who now was struggling in his grip. "But, I am, afraid this is the end..." he said with glee as he got ready to snap his neck like a twig.

But to Orochimaru's surprise, instead glaring or throwing curse the boy smirked at him. Then, his eyes widened when he saw another Haru behind the original Haru, lightning sparked on both his hands that were soon clapped into fists.

**"Raiton : Gian! (Lightning Release : False Darkness!)"**

Orochimaru barely had the time to release the boy and dodge laser of lightning that shoot from the boy fists. He immediately jumped away and made a distance between him and the boy.

'High level Ninjutsu at his age? This boy...' "Impressive, very impressive..." Orochimaru mused as he stared at Haru, who regained his breath with help of his clone, and his tongue slithering was like a snake. "Tell me boy, what your name?" He asked

Haru was silent, his clone behind him already performed hand seals. He also performed them slowly.

"My name... is Haru," Haru said. "And I will show you to not mess with my friend!" he yelled and Orochimaru's eyes widened when he recognized the Jutsu Haru and his clone were casting.

'Already mastered it this young?! This boy is not a Genin!'

**"Katon : Karyūendan no Jutsu! (Fire Release : Flame Dragon Bullet Technique)"**

**"Fūton : Shinkū Taigyoku (Wind Release : Vacuum Great Sphere)"**

Large explosion burst out from the Forest of the Death.

* * *

**Hello everyone! So... How are you?**

**Ah! Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to update in one week! Honest! It just! Welllll... I'm kinda busy ya know, having exam in college an all. Let me tell you study about medical is damn hard! I got full of study I need to do**

**Not to mention next week I have full damn exam *sob* *sob*. So yeah, next update will be kinda long**

**Okay! Enough about that! Let's talk about this chapter! So how you think about it ne?**

**As you all can see, I not inserted any battle save for Haru and his companion. Why? Because this story focused on him, this story focused on him as main character. Naruto and the other will make appearance of course, but it only happen during the twist that happen. As long it was still part of Cannon then there won't be change**

**Don't be disappointed, start from Chunin Exam Arc we will focused to Naruto and the other too seeing they are different one from in Cannon**

**Haru chakra reserve, he could be compared to Jonin. Probably could create 6 Chidori or more, he not Kakashi who got himself drained by Sharingan too much and at same time performing Raikiri. Don't get me wrong, Kakashi maybe possess larger chakra reserve than Haru but the technique he use take bigger powe, not to mention Sharingan drained his body too much**

**Haru vs Tenten, it only small fight and hopefully you enjoy it. Like I said, Haru know well almost everyone in Narutoverse personality. He treat this World like Game, like Keima Katsuragi who capturing the girls by adapt himself to someone who perfectly match into their personality. That's what make Haru very scary, not his talent but his knowledge and genius mind**

**Aaaand we find Haku fighting against Kabuto! Oh yeah! Bet no one predict that right? Ha! Take that you bitch! We will see how their battle went in next chapter!**

**Haru vs Orochimaru, yes it will happen in next chapter. I didn't make him to Gary Stu, if you read it here Haru clearly losing. Orochimaru got hit is because he underestimated him, I mean come on! Who expect Genin could destroy large tree with his fist?! Orochimaru clearly not, that's why he got injured but hey! We talking about Orochimaru here! Broken arm is nothing seeing he can... ... Shed away his skin? Uhh yeah, something like that**

**Anyway! We also have celebration in order! This story reaching 200 favorite! Huuraaaay! I love you all! Thanks for the one that love my story :D**

**I still can't find good opponent for Haru in Prelminaries and Final so I open and will receieve any opinion + request. Just give solid reason too and it will be done**

**Next chapter will be battle betweeen Haku vs Kabuto, Haru vs Orochimaru, and possibly end of second exam maybe.**

**Next chapter probably will out in next week or kinda long, but I hope you all will be waiting. So stay tune and Please give Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**

* * *

Omake : Haru's Payback.

Jonin Lounge.

"I never thought I will gather here with you all," Genma mused aloud as he stared at Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and Kakashi.

"Well, you may be not a Jonin but you do have students," Asuma remarked as he lifted his cigarette.

'And not just any students... A prodigy, who could beat up Tokubetsu Jonin, the boy, who is even better than me when I was at his age...' Kakashi thought as he read his book.

"Indeed, my youthful fellow! Genma, you proved your youthful spirit by picking students!" Gai exclaimed with flashy grin and nice guy pose making everyone roll their eyes at his antic.

"Wanna guess, who will, between our teams, pass first?" Asuma asked.

"5000 ryo it will be my team," Genma immediately stated, which made everyone, save for Kakashi, blink.

"You believe in them that much?" Kurenai asked in slight surprise.

"You don't know my team, Kurenai. They are very good, they are Genin are only in tittle." Genma shook his head with sigh. "Especially Haru..." he muttered, "I don't think there exists a Genin, who could beat him..."

"Hoo? Really? How much you sure?" Asuma asked with interest.

"100%..." Genma answered simply and the three Jonin -Kakashi still read his book- gave him a look full of disbelief.

"I don't think Haru-kun will be that good, my friend. There are Lee and Neji, who are also very strong. They have a year experience more than Haru-kun," Gai commented.

"Gai is right about that part. And my team is also strong, true, they may be bad in one on one, but in team battle? That's another story," Asuma added as he knew Shikamaru' sharp mind and the InoShikaChou of this generation was quite good as well.

"I won't sell my team short too. Hinata is clearly more than she looks, besides, there also are Kiba and Shino," Kurenai also agreed and they all turned to Kakashi. The silver haired Jonin, who was read his book, noticed the look from his fellows and clearly they were waiting for him. Snapping his book, he decided to answer them.

"Haru-kun... is strong... I have no doubt about that, he could beat our teams alone. Even if three on one I don't think ours would win. And I agree with Genma, Haru is the strongest Genin here. And I'm not just talking about Konoha, I talk about the whole participants," Kakashi gave his opinion surprising everyone save for Genma.

But before anyone could voice their surprise, another voice appeared.

"I can vote for that, Hatake is right."

They turned and saw Ibiki Morino appeared, he was carrying a paper in his hand.

"Ibiki... What are you doing here?" Genma asked, wondering why the first proctor of Chunin Exam was here.

"Well, apparently, your Genin caught my interest," Ibiki answered. "We all know Chunin Exam is actually Exam now turned into international event ever since the Third Shinobi War ended in order to become political way of war. Most people treat this exam seriously, a few are even deadly serious since it holds reputation for their own village," he told them and all Jonins nodded, knowing what it means. "But you... Genma, your boy is something..." he sighed "Take a look at his exam..."

Genma blinked before he took the test paper. And as soon he did that his eyes twitched, his lips curled upward and he let out snort before began to snicker.

All Jonin, who were seeing this began to look curiously and Genma showed it to them as he noticed his friends' expression.

There was nothing there... No answers, in fact all is blank, save for the name... The work... It was a drawing... In the corner of the paper there was a Hokage Monument, but the stones were tainted. It was the same Monument when Naruto painted it. And below the corner there was...

"Is that a bunny?" Asuma asked in incredulous tone.

Bunny? Yeah... Seriously, a bunny, who stood on two legs, eating a carrot, there were words 'What's up doc?' beside him.

"And is that the boy who stripped down his pants?" Kurenai asked with disbelief look.

A boy? Okay, a boy, who was wearing a red long t-shirt and yellow short pants... And the boy had his ass revealed while making funny expression... Yes, a naked, but he even did dance like that.

And lastly.

"A mouse? And... Why it's named after my student?" Gai asked with bewilderment face for the first time.

Okay, is that really a mouse? Yep, definitely it is. Though, the ears were bigger and more like hair that was tied into buns, but it clearly was mouse. It even had a ribbon on its head and signed as... Tenten.

"Did he draw that on purpose? Kakashi deadpanned as he saw there was drawing of him. However, the drawing revealed old version of Kakashi holding cane and had his body shivering due to old age, his white hair grew longer like certain perverted Sannin.

"This boy just made a mockery of Chunin Exam. During my watch... That boy either has balls of steel or is an idiot..." Ibiki deadpanned and all Jonin -plus Tokubetsu Jonin- sweatdropped.

"Well..."

"GENMA!"

The door burst open, Genma immediately turned when he heard his name called and...

"Izumo? Kotetsu? What the hell happened to you?" Genma asked with blinked eyes.

To be said, the duo Chunins were the mess is like to say the Sun is bright. Both of them had their faces filled with red marks, the mark that appears when you eat something that makes you allergic. And it was clear it was very itchy seeing they now were scratching their necks and faces.

"That Genin of yours happened! That damn boy somehow drugged our dango, damnit!" Izumo growled.

"We already went to medic nin for the cure, however, they said the plant that is used for medicine and salve are empty," Kotetsu added, he then pulled out his hand and there was a letter in it. "We found he gave us the letter and said you have the cure!"

Genma blinked again before he let out another sweatdrop. That boy is really a sadist, isn't he?

"I... don't have the cure, but he did give me a letter. Anko gave it to me yesterday..." he said as he pulled out the letter and gave it to Kotetsu and Izumo, who immediately took it.

_**Greeting Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san.**_

_**If you two are reading this, then I will go straight to the point and be short since I have a little time. The cure is not with Genma-sensei, it is with me. Why did I do this to you two? Think it as payback for you trying to make Yakumo and I hostile to each other. And because of that she now has a VERY BIG crush on me to the point it is disturbing privacy since I keep helping her even if she shows distrust to me.**_

_**So, I hope you will enjoy being itchy for straight five days, and let me give good news. The longer it is not treated, the worse it will be.**_

_**Your Genius and Avenger Genin, Haru.**_

Needless to say, scream of anger from both Chunins echoed afterward.


	22. Forest of the Death! Pt II

**This chapter has been edited by Frouade! All the credits for better grammar and spelling were given to him!**

* * *

**Chapter 21. Chunin Exam : Forest of the Death! Pt. II**

* * *

"My name... is Haru," Haru said. "And I will show you to not mess with my friend!" he yelled and Orochimaru eyes widened when he recognized the Jutsu he and his clone cast.

'Already mastered it this young?! This boy is not a Genin!'

**"Katon : Karyūendan no Jutsu! (Fire Release : Flame Dragone Bullet Technique)"**

**"Fūton : Shinkū Taigyoku (Wind Release : Vacuum Great Sphere)"**

Large explosion burst out from the Forest of Death.

**[Play - Naruto Shippuden - Amaterasu OST]**

If there was someone watching the infamous forest from above, clearly, they would be shocked to see a sudden giant dome of flame burst out and engulf the majestic giant tree.

By any means, the trees in the Forest of Death were anything but normal. In fact, it could be said the trees there are the biggest in **Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire)** and probably in Elemental Nations.

So it will be normal if someone would show shock and surprise when suddenly giant blazing flames appear out of nowhere. True, there will be chaos or scream of someone's death, perhaps, due to Chunin Exam that's being held.

And as far everyone knows, there is no ninja capable of just summoning giant blazing flames or explosion that could detonate the building of Hokage's Tower size. No, more specifically, no Genin could do such damage.

Orochimaru himself must say he was clearly surprised. Collaboration technique is hard to do. To fuse two Jutsu with different elements, you have to sync the chakra and the volume of its flow has to match each other.

You can't miss even a bit, it will blow to the technique and could kill you when it engulfs you in resulting explosion.

Mostly only Tokubetsu Jonin or very talented Chunin are able to perform collaboration of two different techniques. It is proof they are high caliber ninja that able to control their chakra very well.

And seeing Genin at age like Sasuke, in the era where is no war but peace, able to perform this level of technique was clearly very shocking.

The sea of flames that blazed and burned the forest and trees around it only appeared for around one minute or half of it. But for Haru and his clone who stared at it, it was like an hour already.

He didn't exaggerate when he said he was holding back a lot in his battle against Genma. He may went all out in Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. But all of them still limited were to a closed area since he couldn't just blow out training ground without getting scolded or getting problems from Hokage.

But here? He doesn't have that.

The technique hit, it was clear. No matter how strong Orochimaru is, Haru himself doubted in this range and in the area like this, filled with many obstacle and branches, where could he hide? All of them are food for flame and fire. Not to mention the surprised expression at Orochimaru's face showed he was able to caught him off guard even if only for 0,9999 second.

He can't run... Not while he is here...

Had it was normal Shinobi, even if it caliber like Ebisu. Haru was sure the battle would be over already. But for someone like Orochimaru? No, it's not...

That's why he still kept his guard. Even now he was staring down at Orochimaru's burned body that was lying on the ground, still engulfed in flame, he still kept his eyes on him.

His Sharingan spun and twirled under his sunglasses. It narrowed down before Haru pulled multiple shurikens from his pouch.

The shurikens suddenly blazed with fires and without words, Haru threw the flaming projectiles at Orochimaru's body.

Yet, suddenly, the supposed dead body of the Sannin twitched, before his head moved upward like without bones, he opened his jaw so wide like a snake, breaking his own jaw, then suddenly another Orochimaru appeared. The pale skinned Sannin was fast, his movements were like snake's that slithers and launches to its prey.

Haru anticipated this.

Just after Orochimaru launched himself, clone of Haru already stood in front of him with speed that surpassed anyone in his age. The clone carried tanto and gave downward slash, it even imbued it with chakra and intent to kill the Sannin.

However, just when the short sword was a few inches from reaching Orochimaru, the Sannin's body twisted. His body bent to unnatural angle and dodged the attack, quickly the Sannin delivered strong punch to the clone's stomach and it immediately dispelled.

"Tsk!"

Haru seeing this threw another pair of shurikens at the Sannin. But it proved futile as the Snake Sannin dodged them without problem and he soon arrived in front of Haru.

BANG!

Haru grunted as he held his ground while blocking the kick from the Sannin that aimed at his face. He could feel his muscles and bone screaming in pain. The kick was strong. Very strong. And Orochimaru did not even know Tsunade's trick, it was pure strength.

Orochimaru glanced at Haru, smirk adorned his face. Then, he moved his leg, increasing its strength and gave push to Haru.

This time, Haru flew.

BANG! BANG! CRAASH!

Crashing to the branch and bouncing a few times, Haru body finally struck one of large trees creating large smoke and small impact.

Orochimaru stared at where the boy crashed and crossed his arms with amused smirk. This boy is fascinating, the control of chakra in Ninjutsu he displayed was very great. Not to mention multiple elements he used, fire, lightning, and wind. That were three already, for someone at his age to master elemental manipulation like that.

'I should leave now... ANBU will probably arrive in 15 minutes again...' Orochimaru thought. No doubt the last attack of the boy was going to pull attention, and not just from ANBU but also from participants in this exam. 'But I'm curious about this one... Hmm... Perhaps, five minutes... Yeah, it will be enough to see how capable this boy is.'

**"Katon : Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release : Great Fireball Technique)"**

A giant ball of flame around 10M launched, blasting away all the smoke and soared to Orochimaru. The Sannin only used **Shunshin (Body Flicker)** and in instant he dodged the fireball, making it crash and burn the tree behind him.

As he reappeared few meters away from the fireball, Orochimaru saw Haru burst out from the tree he crashed and dashed to him, two kunais in his hands.

Orochimaru smirked as he fell to battle wanting to see just how good this boy is. He prepared himself to accept the boy attack and was about to move when-

BOOM!

'What?!'

Orochimaru was just in time to pull back his body and bend it backward to avoid being sliced in neck as Haru passed through him. The boy didn't waste the chance, he pivoted and delivered slash, aimed at the Snake's stomach, but again Orochimaru dodged it.

Still not giving up, Haru twisted his body and delivered spinning kick but again, Orochimaru dodged it by ducking his head. The Snake Sannin moved, he dashed and spun his body, passing through Haru's back but before grabbing back collar of his shirt and pulled it. Then, with one hand, he slammed the boy to the ground.

However, instead of falling on his face. Haru moved his legs and hit the ground, preventing him from fall. He took a step forward and delivered dual slash at Orochimaru's stomach, but again the Snake Sannin was able to dodge it and this time his hand moved, extended.

At the same time, Haru reversed his kunais and also moved his hand upward. Orochimaru's extended hand grabbed Haru tanto on his back and-

SLING! SWOOSH!

He was just in time to pull it back again to avoid being sliced by both kunais of Haru. The Snake Sannin immediately jumped back creating distance between them, he gave Haru smirk and the boy clicked his tongue.

'By any mean, I should have gotten him. I should have sliced open his stomach or already sliced part of his neck before. All the surprises and ambushes were perfect! Not to mention the last one! I should have gotten his arm!' Haru inwardly gritted his teeth in annoyance. 'He dodge them all with ease! As… if all my attacks were nothing! Heck! I did not even scratch his shirt! Is this... Is this the level of the monsters I will face in the future?'

'This boy is interesting... The speed he displays... Most ninja were going to be dead when he struck me first time. And also it was only my experience that saved my hand from being sliced by him. Ku-ku-ku. To think Sarutobi-sensei has someone like this as Genin, this boy should be Chunin already or could even enter ANBU perhaps...' Orochimaru chuckled while smirking at Haru. "You are very good..." he complimented. "But still, to face someone, who is unarmed like me. Aren't you cheating?" he joked lightly.

Haru in response merely threw the two kunais he held at Orochimaru before kicked the ground while pulling another kunais. Orochimaru seeing this merely smirked before also dashing to Haru. He tilted his head and dodged the kunais, then kicked the ground.

Leaping forward with faster speed, he delivered toe kick at Haru and the boy ducked to dodge it. He countered it by giving upward slash with his right hand, but Orochimaru was able to dodge it. Seeing the Sannin still in air and open, Haru moved his left hand to strike the Sannin.

Only for the Sannin to spin his body and deliver kick with another leg to his left forearm, preventing it from striking him. Haru already sew this coming and let the kick hit his forearm. When it did, he also spun his body and following the flow of his arm, then deliver spinning slash at Orochimaru's neck.

But it proved futile as the Sannin's right hand was ready and intercepted the attack by grabbing his left arm. Orochimaru landed at the ground and quickly delivered thrust punch with his left hand at open Haru's left side.

However, Haru's body moved and the thrust punch missed, only grazing his cloth. 'Now!' Haru's right arm that held kunai this time was ready. Orochimaru already used both his arms and his legs are just landed at the ground, he is defenseless! Swiftly, his right hand launched at Orochimaru's face, intending to create kunai hole in it.

SLIIING!

It was thanks to Haru's Sharingan he was able to duck his head and bent down his hand just in time to avoid the stab in face by Kusanagi that sprout out from Orochimaru's mouth. Had Haru be normal Jonin or ninja, the fight would be over sooner than expected.

Seeing their position now was not compromised to fight, he released the kunai he held in his left hand and immediately moved to grab Orochimaru's right hand. Quickly he dashed to Orochimaru's side and went past him while still grabbing his right hand that gripped his, then with enhanced chakra strength, he yanked the Sannin arm and threw him away.

At least that was his intention had Orochimaru not be the one, who grabbed his left arm first and threw him far away into the air.

Orochimaru immediately performed few simple hand seals with his left hand and smirked **"Fūton : Daitoppa! (Wind Release : Great Breakthrough!)"** He spew out magnificent burst of gale wind from his mouth and let it soar to Haru, who was defenseless in the middle of air.

But Haru's Sharingan predicted it. True, for a normal person his condition could be described as defenseless, however, Sharingan wielder like Haru is far from defenseless.

When he got thrown, his eyes already tracked to Orochimaru and caught the hand seals Orochimaru performed and when he already put chakra in his throat, Haru also moved.

The time space between the movement was small. Perhaps, only one second or less. However, that amount of time was more than enough for Haru to intend to catch Orochimaru off guard. If he performed his Jutsu, Orochimaru could cancel his own and it would result in useless attack. But if he performed it in the middle, when he already performed his Jutsu and just unleashed it...

**"Katon : Dai Endan! (Fire Release : Great Flame Bullet)"**

Orochimaru's eyes widened seeing the large flame bullet turned into raging and larger bullet while launched to him. He took one step back and was about to jump when-

'What?!'

Orochimaru's eyes moved downward and saw one kunai latched into the ground, he recognized it as the kunai from Haru's left hand before. However, that was not what caught his attention, it was the small string that bound his right arm.

'So when I threw him he did not let it go easily? This boy is very clever, he could read my movements so good!'

BWOOOOSH!

Another blazing inferno hit the ground and spread, burning everything around it including the trees near it also creating another explosion.

Haru flipped in the air to push away the force Orochimaru gave when he threw him away and balanced himself before he landed on the ground. He stared at the raging inferno with impassive face, his Sharingan spun under his sunglasses and narrowed at new direction. After a moment, he moved his hands and performed hand seals.

BRAAK!

'Behind!'

Haru turned and saw Orochimaru burst out from the ground behind him, Kusanagi in his arm. The Snake Sannin was fast, very fast, in fact. He won't make it!

SLIIING! SQUELCH!

"Gugh!"

Haru's eyes widened under his sunglasses and blood spew out from his mouth. Kusanagi burst out from his back as it pierced through his right chest and lung. Orochimaru let out amused smirk and glee as he stared at Haru.

"You are very talented... Haru-kun, was it? Yeah, you are very good for someone at your age. To even surpass Sasuke-kun..." Orochimaru stated as he smirked to Haru. "To think in this peaceful era there is someone like you," he chuckled and it was true. Orochimarou could see the talent of the boy in front of him, this Boy could already be classified as B-rank Shinobi at least, and Jonin too probably. Something that is not easy to gain, especially in this age, where each village raises their children not for war due to peaceful era.

"What you did... to... Sasuke?" Haru gasped out as he glared at Orochimaru, who only smirked.

"Ah? You are a friend of him, aren't you? I just gave him a small gift. You also are very talented, had I not give Sasuke-kun my gift I would give it to you." Orochimaru chuckled as he was unfazed by Haru's glare.

"You..." Haru growled but stopped as he coughed some blood.

"Ku-ku-ku. I suggest you don't talk, Haru-kun, I pierced through your lung, after all. Talking will be quite painful..." he stated with amusement, but then to his surprise Haru's glare turned into smirk.

"Got you."

Suddenly, Haru's body split open like a paper torn apart and exploded into numerous black butterflies, which make Orochimaru eyes widen in shock.

'This is...'

A memory of certain Uchiha, who exploded into numerous crows while facing him flashed in his mind. This Genjutsu was clearly very similar to Itachi' style!

'Genjutsu! But when did he...' Orochimaru's eyes widened further when he recalled Haru already performed hand seals when he almost ambushed him. So that's-

BANG! CRACK!

Whatever he was thinking immediately halted due to pain that crashed into his face. The pain was certainly quite familiar when he sparred with his old friend, he could tell few of his teeth, jaw and cheeks were broken before he felt his body soaring and flying due to impact, crashing into the tree behind him and creating a large hole in it.

Haru stared at where Orochimaru crashed with calm look, but one close with him could see his breath was heavy and ragged. Casting Genjutsu on Orochimaru is not a small feat, to cast someone under Genjutsu you have to possess stronger mental and chakra control.

This was far from over, in fact it could only be the beginning. Oh, don't get him wrong, Haru was confident in his skills, but he clearly was not going to dare to compare his current self to Orochimaru.

This is Orochimaru of Snake Sannin we are talking about. The man practically could murder dozen Jonins, Haru was sure he could become Jonin and maybe stronger than average one, but he was damn sure he would lose if there was a dozen of Jonins to fight him.

The reason he was able to catch Orochimaru is because the Snake Sannin underestimated him and did not take him seriously. The pale skinned leader of Otogakure only wished to test him, he lowered himself to be his equal or slightly better than him.

Orochimaru never fought him, he only toyed. Like some adult playing with puppy, that's all. And now the puppy showed that it at least has fangs that are able to hurt the man as it just bit the man now.

The man, logically, is going to get angry and take him seriously-

Then he saw it.

He saw it.

In the dust and smoke that were still covering the tree where the Sannin crashed, he could see it. He could feel it. He could see and feel as if there was no smoke and dust around there.

A pair of golden eyes with slit. Eyes of snake. Eyes of monster. Eyes of predator. Eyes of the top rank in food chain. Eyes of his death-

**DEAD!**

Dead... Dead... Dead... Dead... Dead... Dead

He is going to die. He is going to die. He is going to die. He is going to die. **He is going to die.**

The image of his death flashed in his mind. He could see it. He could feel it. His body skewered by sharp sword of Kusanagi. His body dissolved by the acid inside snake's stomach. His face ripped apart by that pale skinned hand. His body burned by blazing flame. His body broken by giant tail of the snake.

Every instinct in his body, every part of his mind, everything inside him screamed that his only future will be death. It was his Fate. It was his Destiny. Every-

**NO!**

Part of his mind screamed and yelled back to him. He is not going to die.

He had faced the mighty killing intent of Bijuu itself before.

**He is not going to die.**

He had seen the eyes of the boy raised as nothing but monster.

**He is not going to die.**

He had felt the tainted chakra of the mightiest Bijuu and did not fall on knees.

**He is not going to die.**

There is absolutely no way he is going to fall only because killing intent of Orochimaru freeze him!

**"KATON : GŌRYŪKA NO JUTSU! (Fire Release : Great Dragon Flame Technique!)"**

His scream, yell and burst of chakra snapped him out from his shock and fear. The giant and majestic flame shaped dragon head came out from his mouth and soared to the golden eyes that stared at him.

DOOOGAAAN! BWOOOOSH!

The dragon flame did not just eat the tree it hit, instead it kept going. It crashed into another tree behind it, burning it and still kept going until it burned down a few trees.

Haru's breath calmed afterward, it did not even reach one second, but his mind already got back to neutral. His eyes immediately moved and narrowed, trying to track trail of chakra Orochimaru left behind and…

**DOWN!**

Haru jumped, jumped so high and avoided pair of arms that sprout out from the ground with intent to grab him. His hand immediately moved without command like instinct, performing another pair of hand seals, then he clapped it together into fist, creating spark of blue lightning around it.

**"Raiton : Gian! (Lightning Release : False Darkness)"**

BZZZZT!

The blue laser of lightning went down and soared to the ground, slicing and destroying it like sword slices the tree. His eyes caught Orochimaru's movement, he could see Orochimaru fast speed and his hand followed it in order to hit the man with the lightning laser he was creating.

Orochimaru flashed Haru smirk while moving before suddenly he extended his hand and from his sleeve four pair of snakes came out, launched at Haru, who was in air.

The boy, who was now soaring down due to gravitation had wide eyes and immediately canceled his Jutsu. Pulling out multiple shurikens from his pouch with one hand, he threw them and struck the snakes, killing them before they were able to bite him.

Haru's eyes afterward immediately focused at Orochimaru again. Only to find the snake missing, which made his eyes widen.

Where is-

**ABOVE**

BANG!

"Gugh!"

BANG! CRAASH!

Double hit... Three, maybe, including when his body crashed at the ground. The warning came too late as Orochimaru was already above him, giving elbow hit followed by axe kick to his back.

It was fast! Too fast! Haru couldn't believe it. This far he was always able to dodge the strikes when Orochimaru was in his sight. And it wasn't long when he lost Orochimaru, yet now the Snake Sannin already delivered multiple hits.

His sensory ability, perhaps, was able to help him in detecting Orochimaru, but this time it did not. Active, it's only active when people are very close. Despite he was aware Orochimaru above him but like all Sharingan users, his body couldn't move fast enough to dodge or block the attack.

'There's no time to lie here!'

Haru's body was in pain. But he forced his body to move, to bend. And he finally did it just in time to dodge Orochimaru feet that intended to trample his face.

The boy flipped backward, trying his best to ignore all the pain flowing inside his body. He focused his eyes again, catching sight of Orochimaru and pulled out his tanto, ready to strike.

"Ku-ku-ku. Incredible... Truly incredible!" Orochimaru said with glee as his tongue rolled out. "I maybe can't see your eyes, but I am sure you have seen mine in that smoke before, and you still were able to snap out from my **Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique)** and perform high-class Ninjutsu. You are really incredible for someone at your age!" Orochimaru laughed with glee and respect to Haru.

Haru only glared in reply, blood dripped from his forehead and mouth, his cloth tattered in various part and dirt covered most of his body. He was taking another battle stance and was ready to spring to action once again. However, his posture suddenly stiffened and he noticed Orochimaru did the same.

"Tsk! It seems I had too much fun..." Orochimaru clicked his tongue slightly and frowned, but soon it was replaced by smirk again. "The ANBU seem already approaching us, well. I will take my leave for now, it was fun to play with you Haru-kun, until the next time." Orochimaru body suddenly sunk into the ground as if it was quicksand rather than solid ground.

"Wait!" Haru yelled as he was about to dash, but he winced when he felt the pain in his body, apparently his adrenaline was already off now. He only could watch with scowl as Orochimaru was finally gone.

Just to make sure, he sent pulse of chakra and what the Sannin said was true. He could sense Orochimaru was already leaving, not too far actually, but he was sure the Sannin won't get caught.

**[Music Off]**

He took deep breath before falling on his ass. Pulling his sunglasses and deactivating Sharingan, he let out sigh of relieve and let his muscles to relax slightly.

It was over...

Finally...

It's over...

He had faced Sannin and survived...

Oh God! He is lucky! Very lucky! Very, very lucky! The 40% chance proved to be safe! Huraaay! Huuraay! Oh yeah! As soon he will be done in this part, celebration clearly in order!

'Wait! No! There are a few things left! A few things I need to do before everything will be done! It's not over yet!'

Haru grunted as he forced himself to stand again, he could feel his muscles were sore and hurt but-

"Hoi! Genin over there!"

Haru head snapped to above and he saw two men. Two ANBU, one with spiky chestnut hair, with slim figure and wearing bird mask, and the other with bulky figure, shaggy brown hair and wearing bear mask

"You... You are Haru, right?" The bird ANBU masked asked.

"Yes, I am," Haru admitted with nod.

Both ANBU leapt down from the tree and began to approach him. Haru still could see even if he already admitted himself as Haru the ANBU muscles were still stiff and not relaxed, as if ready to strike any moment.

'Well, they are ANBU. They were trained to be always cautious, when Ninja eats lunch box in field, ANBU eats emergency food under shadow of tree,' Haru thought with dry chuckle inwardly. "No need to be tense. Your two's timing was good... I already thought I am close to death..." he murmured the last part.

"Anko Mitarashi informed us you stayed behind to face Orochimaru by yourself. That was very stupid of you..." Bear remarked.

"It's better to Genin to die rather than Tokubetsu Jonin, right?" Haru defended himself while sighing. "Anyway, Orochimaru already left. He is already out of my sensor sense, so I can't detect him anymore, but he went to east."

"Sensor ninja? At your age? Hmm, you're quite talented," Bird commented "Very well, could you follow us for a moment? We have questions for you."

"Sure, but the Exam?"

"We will talk about it later. Now come with us, you can stand, right?"

"I am..."

"Good, let's go..."

* * *

Meanwhile in another part of the forest.

Haku dashed in the forest with stoic face, her eyes were sharp and senbons were ready in her fingers. She bent down her leg slightly before pumping power on it and jumping strongly.

While in air, her hands and fingers danced as they shoot out the senbons she held. The aim was sharp and while it seems harmless it will become deadly weapon if it will hit the right point.

Kabuto raised one kunai, he moved his hand and blocked all the incoming projectiles with stoic face. For him, who was ninja medic, he knew well at what points those senbons aimed.

He couldn't let them hit his body, all of them were vital and there was a chance he will be in death-like state immediately. And not just that, the senbons she threw were also faster than normal ones launched.

When you play with senbon, you didn't need to use strength. You only need to make it fast, very fast to the point it was invisible to eyesight. Because it originally used to pierce small point in human body, yet also make it effective

This Haku girl knew that trick. The senbons she launched were fast, faster than most senbon users Kabuto ever faced or seen. This one could enter top 10 best senbon users he ever faced.

Haku seeing her attack was blocked performed hand seals, then her mouth bulged slightly

**"Suiton : Suidan no Jutsu! (Water Release : Water Bullet Technique)"**

Kabuto jumped back as he dodged the water bullet and let it smash the tree behind him, however, just when he was in the air, another group of senbons came to greet him.

He raised his kunai again and prepared himself to block the attack, but suddenly, when the senbons were close to him, one of them exploded in white smoke to reveal Haku, who had another group of senbons in her hands.

'What the?! She transformed herself into senbon?! Tsk! Clever girl!'

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Kabuto let out grunt of pain as senbons that Haku threw pierced his hands. He couldn't defend himself this close, but at least he was able to raise both his arms in protective manner.

Then, he moved his hands again and blocked Haku continued strike as the ice wielder girl gave axe kick to him. The kick was not strong, but it was enough to push the glasses man wore downward.

However, in the middle air, Kabuto managed to balance himself by flipping his body and landed on the ground. But he was not given chance to rest as Haku already threw another group of senbons and he jumped back to create distance between them.

"I will say it once again. Surrender your scroll. I don't want to kill you..." Haku demanded in stoic tone and Kabuto smirked.

"Sorry, can't do, Miss..." Kabuto replied simply and Haku closed her eyes.

"Then I have no choice." Haku opened her eyes again and her hand flashed making Kabuto's eyes widen in surprise seeing she was able to perform one-handed seals: **"Hijutsu : Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Technique : Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)"**

Kabuto stiffened when he felt something moving under his feet and when he glanced down, he realized he now stood in wet area that Haku made. The water danced and soared up to sky, all of it swirling and turning into giant sharp needles that aimed at the spy of Otogakure.

'It surrounded me from all directions. Then the only free place is-

BADUMP!

'Ugh!' Kabuto's eyes widened when he felt his body shake for a moment. Then he felt his arms becoming numb and heavy 'I can't feel my arms! This is poison!' He stared at his arms that were heavy and couldn't be moved anymore with wide eyes, this girl is good! Damn! How could he be careless like this? Most senbon users also use poison!

"Forgive me for this..."

SPLAASH!

All the needles immediately soared down to Kabuto and destroyed the area they pierced. Haku stared at the scenery with impassive face, however, she did not let her guard down and kept her senses sharp.

This Genin is good, he is even better than Sasuke-san. And Sasuke was able to dodge this attack, though she was not serious when facing him the first time but it was still something.

If this Genin is stronger, then it'd better if she will not let her guard down, she has to see the body directly before confirming the victory.

And her senses were proven true when her instinct flared. She immediately jumped and avoided pairs of hand that were surrounded by blueish aura. However, she was not fast enough as one hand managed to touch part of her feet.

She flipped in air and landed on ground before winced as she felt there pain in her feet, part of muscle there was cut! And it was very careful and clean! As if this man sliced her by using scalpel rather than normal kunai!

'This man is ninja medic!' Haku thought with realization, the cut was clean and it made her having hard time to move, it reduced her speed. 'I could heal it with simple emergency medical Ninjutsu, and there's one that Haru-sama taught me too, but...'

She had to face her opponent first.

Kabuto panted slightly while trying his best to stand firm, his glowing hand slowly faded as he dismissed his **Chakura no Mesu (Chakra Scalpel)**. The poison started taking effect and he was just barely able to perform Ninjutsu to escape before.

This Kunoichi is good.

He has heard about new Kunoichi enter their ranks -thanks to a few ninja, who love to gossip for that-, but he never thought she will be this good.

He underestimated her too much and now he paid the price... Now, what he should do with her?

By any means, Kabuto was sure he still could take down this girl. She was good, but still not good enough to face someone at his caliber, true, he is at disadvantage due to poison, but the girl now won't be as fast as before, he had disabled her leg

Kill her? No, he can't do that. This girl is still under watch by ANBU during her daily day after joining Konoha.

Normally that wouldn't be problem, but seeing Orochimaru-sama decided to enter this stage there will be ruckus and the blame is clearly going to fall at Orochimaru-sama.

New ninja that just entered Konoha found dead at the same time when the rogue one returned, what a coincidence, wouldn't you agree?

While Orochimaru sure threatened to destroy Konoha had the Chunin Exam stopped, but the truth is it won't be as easy as he said. The force and the negotiations from Sunagakure are still in the middle way, true, it was almost finished but not yet. They still need more time and if he will not be careful their act could be caught.

Konoha, after all, called the strongest village not for nothing.

Okay, then he will let her live. Now, what should he do? He can't knock her out, this Kunoichi is clearly not normal and if he was able to beat her but then withdraw in this stage it would raise other suspicions.

"Let call this battle off," Kabuto said making Haku narrow her eyes. "I give up, you can have my scroll. This is my loss..." He tried his best to move his limp hand to his pouch and pull out Earth scroll. "Here's the scroll."

Haku took the scroll Kabuto tossed, her eyes checked it while keeping her ears sharp just in case if Kabuto planned to ambush her. After a moment she found the scroll was real and put it in her pocket.

"Could I get antidote, err..."

"Haku..." Haku said. "Yes, you can, but I won't give it that easy. You still can walk, right?" she asked and he nodded. "Good, now, Yakushi-san, here is the antidote." Haku pulled out some serum from her pocket. "I will heal myself first before I give it to you."

Kabuto did not show any sign of surprise Haku said she is able to heal herself, the way she fought is quite similar to ninja medics, after all. "And how I know you won't betray me?"

"You don't. But all this time I already tried to persuade you to give up, right? That is the proof I never intended to fight you in first place."

Well, that was very reasonable point and argument. In Kabuto's eyes, he could see this girl quite pacifistic. She seems too kind, all the attacks she launched she never went for kill in first place. Even the last one, he could tell that water needles aimed not at his vital organs and points.

"If you say so..."

Haku nodded in satisfaction seeing Kabuto now slowly fell on the ground while sitting. She slowly kneeled and performed hand seals before her hand began glowing and she touched her feet.

Regenerating the muscle tissue and sliced tendon. Done, now her leg could be used again. Slowly she stood firmly and tested her leg, seeing it was fine she turned to Kabuto.

"Here is the serum, Yakushi-san." She rolled the serum from ground to Kabuto's direction and the man took it. "Now I will take my leave, I hope we won't fight again soon."

After saying that, she immediately jumped away and was gone with a swirl of water. The right hand of Orochimaru sighed before he moved his hand and took the serum.

Now, now, it wasn't like he can't make antidote by himself. But no matter how good in medic he is, he couldn't make it if there is an enemy in front of him. He asked one because surely she will have it seeing she is the one who possesses the poison.

The poison work is slow, it eats his chakra and the more the chakra depleted, the more you will feel your body become numb. He already couldn't feel one-third of his body anymore and that was dangerous.

'Haku... It seems there are a few talented Genin this year. Orochimaru-sama will be pleased...'

* * *

A moment later.

I grunted as I was rolling my shoulder, intending to flex my muscles and arm.

It's been few hours after my encounter with Orochimaru. After I was done the ANBU began to question me. I won't give long story and explanation, simply put, they asked me how our battle went. They were actually skeptical about my battle, but I told him to ask Hiruzen about my skill and I will explain it further after this stage exam done.

They accepted and let me go, but in payment for my deed to stall Orochimaru they healed my wound. Now I may be healed, but the pain and sore still were there, I still could feel my back screaming in pain.

I then closed my eyes and let my sensor ability extend, today is not over. I still have another plan to do, after this will be done, then I can move to tower and finish this stage. I am sure Haku already went to Yakumo place now, I already sent a clone to Yakumo and tell her I will come soon after I take care of this thing.

It took a moment for me before I opened my eyes as I found my target. This is already bordering to morning, I only have a little time. I have to move fast to arrive in time.

As I began to move, my mind flashed to the battle with Orochimaru... That battle... God, I don't know... I am really lucky now Orochimaru didn't mark me.

Yes. I know by revealing my skill that guy is going to mark me with Cursed Seal, having Sasuke or not he was still going to mark me as potential vessel.

It was absolute and he would do it as soon he saw how skilled I am. If the battle continued and ANBU did not come it would happen, he would mark me.

And unlike Sasuke, I'm not sure I am going to survive having Orochimaru Senjutsu chakra injected in me. And having that guy in my mind would also be a nightmare.

But, of course, I already had a plan, if he was able to inject me he would leave afterward.

I would use Izanagi.

My plan was to gain battle experience against the monster I will face in the future and see how strong my limit is. I never saw how strong I am and I wanted to see it. I wanted to see how I will fair against monster that roamed in this World. It was stupid, and it would better if I laid down and stroked Orochimaru when he did not notice me, especially facing him would risk to get my Sharingan revealed -thankfully it did not-

Foolish it was... But it had to be done.

I will face those monsters in the future... No matter what I will need preparation. And I can't just let it slip when there is a one here, I need to prepare myself to face them... To strengthen my mentality so I could stand against another monster in the future. There's reason why I fooled enough to face Gaara, despite me being honest, but I also wished to get something and I did. Had I not face Gaara before I would be fully paralyzed against Orochimaru full killing intent and Kanashibari no Jutsu.

Of course the risk was big, like I said Orochimaru could mark me. And he will if he finds out I have Sharingan, and he won't stop even if Akatsuki on his way. He had lost Itachi before and he won't lose another one... Thanks whatever Deity in this World he did not find out.

Izanagi... The ultimate Kinjutsu that allows Uchiha alter the REALITY itself at cost of one Sharingan. This Jutsu, if you put it in my previous World sentence, it will be 'This Jutsu is OP Jutsu and is clearly too imbalanced!'

With Izanagi, I could resurrect an army that fights with me. If I got ambushed and died, simply using Izanagi and poof! Me and my army are back to live. And if Orochimaru marked me in battle before I would use it to erase that cursed mark.

There more than that I sure, Izanagi is technique that very dangerous. Only Uchiha could use it, or at least those having their body modified like Danzo. Izanagi, after all, is Uchiha's Kinjutsu, that's why Kakashi Hatake couldn't do it even if he had one.

No matter what, Sharingan's0 true power only can be unleashed if you are Uchiha. Kakashi possessed Mangekyo Sharingan, but he couldn't control Bijuu, why? Because his body couldn't handle the burden.

Danzo modified his body with Senju's cells so he could. So he could control Kyuubi with Shisui's eyes just in case something happen.

Sharingan... really is a greatest weapon... No wonder Orochimaru wants it, no wonder Danzo also wants it.

And no wonder Uchiha clan are pricks with stick shoved into their pompous ass.

"Thankfully, I'm not that prick," I murmured with snort to myself. Sasuke was already bad, he is a prick, but at least he doesn't have stick stuck in his ass anymore.

Suddenly familiar chakra hit my sensor and I blinked. Close, I am already close! I pumped my legs and reinforced my speed further, this is it! The last thing I need to do in this exam!

It wasn't long before I reached my targets. As soon as I arrived, I jumped from the tree and stared down at them. The people below me looked at me with wide eyes and surprise seeing I arrived.

I landed on the ground, no longer I wore my sunglasses and let my black raven eyes revealed. I stared at the three groups standing in front of me. On my right was familiar pink haired woman with boy wearing green spandex, both of them were clearly not in fighting condition.

In front of me was the group also familiar to me. Two boys: fat one had spiky brown hair, second had black hair and had it was tied into spiky ponytail. The black haired boy was holding familiar pale blonde haired unconscious girl in his arms.

And lastly, on my left was a group unfamiliar to me. I've only seen them in anime and now I see them directly like this. Then I smiled, it was calm and serene smile.

The smile was very similar to predator's smile upon its prey, the smile that told them it gave them a chance to flee before getting caught by it and eaten.

Then I spoke... The words were also sincere and calm... But held no kindness.

"Otogakure Shinobi, leave now and none of you is going to die..."

Like Lion that pounced down Deer under its paw.

* * *

**Hahahaha! Hello everyone! Yeah! Full battle of Haru vs Orochimaru in here! How is it?! How is it?! I hope the battle satisfy you all!**

**As you can see the battle in here actually where Haru go all out and even able to damage Orochimaru. But this is Orochimaru we talking about, even after sealed in Totsuka no Tsurugi that damn snake still able to reborn!**

**I'd like to comment more about the battle but it not belong to me that right, it belong to you, the reader of my story. So tell me your opinion about the battle okay? Does it just like what your imagine or not!**

**Haku vs Kabuto, now sorry for not making this as excited as you all expected. But Kabuto right now can't act and he knew it, that's why he decided to back down from the fight. And true, if Kabuto serious ever since beginning the chance Haku lose will be big. Haku maybe work with Zabuza but Kabuto work with Danzo and Orochimaru in his young life. That guy is very strong, wouldn't you agree?**

**And yeah! Haru interfere with Otogakure Shinobi and their battle! There reason why he did that and you all will find out in next chapter!**

**Sorry for not updating this but ya know, college and etc. Keeping me busy *sigh*, even now I also write the next chapter of Crimson Eyed Knight. Damn! If only I have four hands! I will finish both story at same time! Hahahaha!**

**Anyway! Next chapter will be the last time Haru spend time in Forest of Death and we will move to Prelminaries. Haru enemy actually already decided, but I want to know your opinion. You still could give suggestion who Haru going to fight in prelminaries and final of Chunin Exam**

**Stay tune to watch the! Err, to read the continuation later! And don't forget to give this story a lot of Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	23. Forest of the Death! Pt III

**Chapter**** 22\. Chunin Exam : Forest of the Death! Pt. III**

* * *

The situation currently not good for them. Shikamaru aware of that...

Before the battle begin he already make few plans and predict how it will go. Delay the other two and Ino capture one of them then make it into hostage situation. No matter how, he believe they actually capable to did that. They have advantage after all, the enemies didn't know their ability but they know theirs.

And also no matter how bad they are, they sure after one of enemy captured they will win. Because to pass this exam your whole team must survive, you can't just come alone. It will make you instant fail

But what he didn't expect is that their enemies didn't care... Their enemies didn't give a shit to their own teammate. They even blatantly declared that they didn't care about this exam but instead they only have one target. Sasuke Uchiha

That change a things... A lot in fact...

If their enemy is kind of person who will sacrifice anything, then he just make a big mistake. Especially when now they find out Ino technique is double edge sword

His mind immediately working as he stare at the group in front of him. Chouji also not in good condition now, this battle start to become bad in their side

It was then when suddenly they hear sounds of tree rustled. He and everyone immediately turned their attention and find out someone come out

And imagine his surprise when he see it was Haru of all people

His fellow Genin landed gracefully in ground, Shikamaru noted Haru appearance actually bad. There dirt and few tattered part but the brown haired Genin himself look fine actually

Then Haru tilt up his face, the sunglasses he normally wear now hang in his collar shirt. He stare at Sakura and Lee before stare to his group, then to Oto group.

"Otogakure Shinobi, leave now and none of you going to die..."

That words echoed in battlefield as all Genin stared at the single Shinobi who just arrive.

Dangerous...

In Shikamaru eyes, Haru is the most dangerous Shinobi in his generation, he aware of that. In academy, Haru never show exaggerated skills. He maybe seems good, especially in taijutsu and shurikenjutsu but that's it, other than that his grade is average

Of course Shikamaru know well that was bullshit.

Haru is anything but average. Proof until now Shikamaru himself still can't beat that man in Shogi. And if there one thing Shikamaru prided, it was his skill in Shogi

He have beat most adult, even his Jonin teacher but until now not once he beat Haru. That show the boy actually very smart...

There once... There once Shikamaru admit he almost got Haru, it was very veeery close. But the boy in last seconds able to repel his strategy, he able find damn hole in his strategy! And afterward, their next game will be more intense, more long and more sharp. But not once Shikamaru win

It wasn't long after their games Shikamaru finally learn that Haru himself also learning... Before he always able to push Haru, he always close and close to victory. And after few games, the gap appear again. And it keep growing until the table set back like normal

It was then Shikamaru realize Haru ability to learn his own mistake is very horrifying...

Haru himself maybe not aware of that but Shikamaru know... The boy able to learn his own fault and mistake then fix it very fast...

But nooo. That not the thing that make Shikamaru wary of him...The thing that make Shikamaru very wary is how Haru spend his time

Ever since he beaten by Haru he try his best to observe the boy in academy. And after a moment Shikamaru finally realize how 'normal' that boy in academy... The mask he wield is normal... Very normal to the point it almost impossible...

And all people know... The greater the mask someone wield, the greater secret that person hide...

And for some reason Shikamaru somehow doubt the secret was good thing

"What you said bastard?" Zaku snarled

"I won't repeat myself, mongrel." Haru voice is cold, it was the tone he rarely use "Surely you not stupid enough to not understand my previous statement."

Dosu meanwhile stare at Haru with narrowed eye. He observe the man with keen eye, there something about this man that somehow give chill to his spine

"Bastard! Oi Dosu! I will take care this new guy!" Zaku growled angrily

"Wait Zaku! This one different from the other!" Dosu warned immediately, his lone visible eye still not leaving Haru. The way that man stare at them... Its almost like... 'Orochimaru-sama...'

"Hmph! At least one of you have some brain. You may want to listen to dog over there mongrel." Haru stated with cocky smirk

"What you say?!" Zaku fumed "I will kill you bastard!" He rose one hand and aim it to Haru **"Zankūha (Decapitating Airwaves)"**

A sound of boom echoed as the tube from Zaku hand let out wave of strong airwave that rip apart the air in space and it soar to Haru.

The boy only rolled his eyes, his arm still crossed in arrogant manner but he not make attempt to dodge. The airwave that launched immediately hit him, but to everyone surprise instead hit the target, the airwave went through Haru body as if Haru not there

"What?!" Zaku exclaimed with shock seeing his attack went through his target like that

HIT! CRACK!

Pain immediately flood Zaku mind, he could tell his ribs cracked and even some broken. His eyes wide open and blood spew out from his mouth. Haru was there, his posture lowered slightly and his one fist extended, hitting the Oto Genin abdomen

'Fast!' Dosu eye widened in shock as he see one moment Haru stand far from them and in blink of eye he already there

"I warning you..." Haru said coldly before he pull back his fist and the Oto Shinobi gasped before he fell to knee while clutching his abdomen. Not long he spat a glob of blood while having his whole body trembling, clearly in pain

Haru eyes immediately darted to Dosu who ran to him with his steel gauntlet ready. The secret Uchiha pivote his leg before he give kick to Zaku and with another sound of 'crack', the Genin fly toward his friend

Dosu eye widened, Zaku not fly at him like normal speed but fast one. Which mean this new Konoha Genin is strong! Incredibly strong!

He twist his leg, moving in zig-zag manner and dodge his friend body. He close! Few meters away already! At this range even if this man fast enough to run but he in his range! He could use the sounds and-

Whatever his thinking immediately halted when Haru eyes fell to his. His mind freeze as his lone eye stare at the depth black raven eyes Haru possess. Those eyes... That eyes... Promised nothing but death...

His momentary frozen state ceased when he heard Haru footstep, the man now in front of him and Dosu immediately move his fist, his fear and shock gone as his instinct take over. Even if the man this close, he still can control the sounds and-

SCREEECH!

"GAAGGHHH!"

Sounds of metal and steel crying and shrieking immediately echoed in forest, make all Genin winced due to it high-pitched sound. The screeching was followed by scream of pain from Dosu mouth

'What the hell?!'

Dosu stare at disbelief as Haru hands moved and blurred. Just before when his gauntlet hit him, the Konoha Genin catch it with both hands then he twist it. The metal twisted and cracked under the pressure of his fingers, like some iron that twisted by tank. Breaking part of his hand in proceed

The Otogakure Genin fell to his knee while clutching his broken arm with his other hand as Haru release his grip. His forearm clearly broken now! He rise his head and give glare to Haru, even in pain he still-

He wish he didn't did that

Instead seeing face of the brown haired Genin, for moment Dosu swear in name of Rikudō Sennin. He saw it. He saw a visage behind the... Man in front of him... He saw it... A pale skinned humanoid face... It have long swirling black abyss hair, it face had nothing save for nose and three void holes that placed in place of eyes and mouth. And that three holes, curled into terrifying smile-like expression

"Left your scroll in here..." That wasn't request or statement. That was order "Take your friends with you... Then run... Run... Little rabbit..."

And run he did

The boy immediately stand again as if his hand not broken. He throw his scroll to the ground before picking Zaku and Kin, throwing them into his shoulder and grip one of them between his armpit like bag of potatoes then jump away

Never once he look back, because he knew. If he did that, he will see that... That... That Monster again

Team 10 stare at Haru with shocked faces, their eyes wide open and their jaw also dropped. Clearly they try their best to believe what they just see

"Holy shit! Since when Haru that strong?!" Ino asked to her teammates

None of them answered of course, they still trapped in their own shock. For Shikamaru, he knew Haru good. But to this extent? He barely breaking sweat taking them down! It almost like watching Asuma fighting them!

'It not since when he this strong Ino... It was how long he been this strong?'

Everyone watched as Haru take the scroll in the ground and then he turned to Sakura and Lee. The brown haired Genin approach Sakura and kneeling in front of her

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern and Sakura blinked it seems she still try to think what just happen

"A-Ah! H-Haru-san! Y-Yeah! I'm fine but-"

Haru see Sakura paused and her eyes fell to Rock Lee who laying unconscious in ground. The reincarnated man give smile to Sakura and pat her head

"Its fine... I don't know what happen but it was clear you doing good job holding by your own." He stated with warm tone "You have grown Sakura..." He finished with gentle smile make Sakura eyes widened and the girl lower her head to hide the blush that adorn her face "Now... Let see how bad your conditions, stay still okay?"

Haru hand began to glowing green before he pushed it to Sakura bruise and swollen eyes due to got hit by Zaku before. The girl winced when the green light touch her wounds as she let out hiss but slowly she can feel the pain gone and she feel more comfortable, it almost like feel like someone pressing the lump on your head and instead keep exist, the lump sinking

That was strange feelings actually

It take a moment but then finally the wound from Sakura body gone, dirt and dust maybe cover her but she looks better at least

"Done!" Haru exclaimed as he remove his hand and give nod to Sakura who mutter thank you. He turned to Rock Lee and approach him, his hands glowing again as he press it to the spandex boy ear

DOOOON!

It was just when he touch Lee ear and heal him for moment. A sudden burst of pressure appear in air, it was strong, big and even make everyone save for Haru flinched the moment it appear.

It come from behind Rock Lee... It come from Sasuke Uchiha who now slowly stand...

To Haru who sensor and already aware this will happen, he inwardly surprised. He had seen it in anime and had watch how it affect someone nature. But now he see it directly, it still bring shock to him

It was vile... Vile... Tainted... And yet also very strong... Potent even... Not at level of Kyuubi or Bijuu, but it clearly stronger than Zabuza and Kakashi... He also familiar with this feeling because he had face the owner of this vile chakra few hours ago

Sick dark violet aura swirling around Sasuke body. The tainted chakra flowing around him like flame that burn everything around him. Earth and rock around it shatter. Air and wind clashed to it violently as if rejecting it existence. Dark patter flame tattoo slithered in his skin, spreading to his face that now look very menacing due to his red eyes that seems glowing while adorned by black cursed mark

'This... This is the Cursed Seal of Heaven... The strongest Cursed Seal huh? The seal that contain fraction of Orochimaru Senjutsu power...'

"S-S-Sasuke...kun?" Sakura mutter out with shock seeing her teammate state

Haru who kneeling on Rock Lee side slowly stand, his easy going face gone. Replaced by grim look as his eyes stare at Sasuke who just awake

"Haru..." Sasuke called, his tone is deep and menacing

"Sasuke..." Haru responded with same tone "Whatever you do, stand down... That chakra not yours... It affected your mind..." He stated grimly

"Haru..." Sasuke simple reply, his Sharingan spun in menacing manner as he stare at the boy in front of him "I always behind you... Even if we are friends but I always behind you... Not even with Naruto or Hinata help I could stand against you..." He declared with dark tone "You are the strongest person I ever fight, and yet your age and mine not different far... You always in front... I always see your back... And yet... You said yourself you weaker than HIM..." His tone become menacing and his fist clenched tightly

Haru hands twitched in anticipation

"Even if our age same... But you are so far... You are so strong... You... You just like HIM..." His glare darkened and the vile violet chakra around him become more strong "By defeating you... With this power... I will one step closer to kill HIM!"

There no other words after that

Sasuke simply gone, vanish. As if he was never there in first place, none of them could track his movement.

Save for Haru

The secret Uchiha just in time to move. He twist his body to the side, his hand extended and grabbing the Uchiha Survivor fist that aimed to hit him. With swift movement, Haru lower his body and throw Sasuke away over his shoulder

Sasuke flipped in air, balancing himself, his hand already perform hand seals the moment Haru threw him. Chakra gathered in his throat, swirling and create bulge on his mouth

**"Katon : Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release : Great Fireball Technique)"**

The size of the fireball was massive, it easily surpass five meters. Haru who seeing this had wide eyes as he realize Sakura and Lee was behind him. And seeing the girl still staring at Sasuke with shock, that will be bad thing for them

"Sakura! Snap out of it! Get away from here!" He yelled while performing several hand seals

"Eh?"

'Ugh! Really?! I really hate her when she in Part 1!' Haru growled before she grab Sakura wrist and throw her away, ignoring the scream he immediately smash both his hands to the ground

**"Doton : Doryūheki (Earth Release : Earth-Style Wall)"**

BOOOM!

The burst of flame explode when hitting the wall of earth that just in time to rose from the ground and protect Haru. Even if the flame was large but the wall stand firm, Haru already master this technique to high degree and it even capable to defend against B-rank Ninjutsu

'Damn it! My chakra! I still not fully healed after fighting Orochimaru, only my wounds healed! At this rate... I need to finish this soon!'

Haru clicked his tongue as he held the wall firmly. However sudden voice caught his attention and he turned just in time to see Sasuke appear through other side of the wall, with fist ready to struck him

Only for ground beneath him explode and another Haru arrive, giving uppercut to Sasuke face and sending the Uchiha soar above. But before he could fly far, the clone grab his toe and slam him to the ground

As soon Sasuke fell, the original Haru leap forward. His body immediately pin Sasuke to the ground and staring at his deep red eyes

"Sasuke!" Haru yelled to Sasuke face and the Sharingan user stare back at his raven eyes "Sasuke..." He called again and the voice this time turned to soft "Enough..." He said slowly "Enough Sasuke..." The words was slow, it as if he talking to particular dull witted child

Sasuke struggle immediately stop as he staring at Haru eyes. His Sharingan slowly gone and morphed back to his raven eyes, the dark flame tattoo that surround his body slowly pulled back to where the seal placed

The boy stare at Haru with shocked face, his eyes filled with confusion as if he don't know what he just did and what just happen

"Haru... I... I..."

"We will talk about this later..." Haru cut him with smile, like parent who chided his children in soft manner. Slowly he drag himself up and began to stand, releasing Sasuke from his grip

"Sasuke-kun!"

He see Sakura immediately latched to Sasuke. The pinkette face was pure concern and worry as she check Sasuke condition like mother who check her children that just fall

"Are you okay? What just happen? You... You just like..."

Like Orochimaru... Haru knew well what Sakura want to say but she manage to hold it

"I... I don't know... It... It was blur and..." Sasuke gulped, his tone for once contain unsure and he like lost child "Power... So much power and..." He snap his neck to Haru, his eyes is wide and there fear in it "Haru... About what I said... I..."

"We talk later okay?" Haru cut him with nonchalant face "For now..." He tilted his head up "Why don't you come out, Sempai?"

As soon he said that, everyone tilted their faces to where Haru gaze fell. And not long, two figure appear and Haru immediately recognize them

"See? I told you Neji, this one is good!" Tenten exclaimed as she stare down at Haru. Neji only silence, his eyes still fell to Haru and Sasuke "Yo! Kouhai!"

"Ah, Tenten-sempai." Haru greeted back with slight bow "It seems we meet again, twice in 24 hours..."

"Hahaha! Yeah, good coincidence eh? Say, you mind if you handed that guy to us?"

Haru followed Tenten fingers and his eyes fell to Lee who still unconscious. He already heal Lee ear at least but there still disturbance in his brain and internal organ that caused by the sounds

"Of course, he all yours..." Haru gestured and Tenten nodded before she jump down. The secret Uchiha watched in amusement as Tenten roughly began to slap Lee and shake him like rag of doll

He cast silent look to Shikamaru and the rest of team 10. From what he saw, he could tell most of them also not understand what happen, save for Shikamaru who now trying his best to figure their situation perhaps

Oh, yeah. Haru know well that Shikamaru somehow very wary to him. He didn't know why, as far he knew he already try his best to act not offensive toward the Nara boy. There must be something that he miss to make Shikamaru wary to him. He don't know what is it but he hope Shikamaru won't make move to him soon or try to be very offensive

He didn't want to kill him after all... Not now... He still useful to facing Akatsuki in future... But if he do something to risk his situation... Well...

He sure no one going to notice Shikamaru missing until it too late...

"You there, the one that Tenten mention..."

Haru blinked when hear Neji call him. He tilt his head upward and stare at Neji who look down on him

"Yes?" He asked politely

"How long you had know we watching you?" Neji questioned with narrowed eyes

"Ever since the moment I finish those Oto Genin..."

Neji stare at him with stony expression. He aware of this boy... This boy always spend time with Hinata-sama... He had once seen Hinata spend time with him and when Hinata spend time with him, the weak and timid girl he know is gone

Only another fool... Someone who went against fate...

And yet after seeing the display of power he see... This boy clearly not normal fool... Fool he maybe but he possess power to backup his act...

'It will be interesting to fight him later. He and Uchiha are opponent that should be wary of.' Neji thought as he stare down at Haru

* * *

Well... That could be worse...

It been another one hour ever since I knock some sense to Sasuke head and dismiss Curse Mark influence over his head

Everything went just like in Canon afterward... Well save for small talk between me and Tenten, and Shikamaru too. With Tenten, she said she want to fight me in shurikenjutsu again, it seems she found it was rare for someone at her age skilled like her in Bukijutsu part

She didn't see my full battle, I aware Neji also only saw when I dealing with Sasuke. My sensor ability caught him spying on us from far, probably using Byakugan

Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji already leave not long few minutes ago after make sure Team 7 is fine. Only me still with them now. Naruto looking at me with curious look but I can see he happy to meet me in here. Sasuke himself only silence but this far he always avoid to look into me in eyes directly and Sakura on her side shot concerned look

Currently I stare at Sasuke with impassive face and the boy only looking down

"I don't know what happen momentary to you Sasuke... But that purple chakra before is not something to be used carelessly." I said as I started the conversation

Sasuke only silence and clench his fist more. Naruto blinked few times, he seems not understand what happen and open his mouth

"You should ask what we talking about to Sasuke by yourself later Naruto... This is his problem after all..." I cut him and he scowled, he want to protest but I cut him again "Right now what matter is how you three going to pass the test." I stated and he close his mouth, this make Sasuke rise his head and look into me too. Good I got their attention

I pull out the Earth scroll that Dosu give me and place it in ground

"Normally I won't bother to help you since I didn't get any benefit." I said to them "Don't get me wrong, I want to help you and willing to do so. Sasuke and Naruto here is like my little brother and of course I will help them." I added when see Sakura about to protest. I see Naruto beamed in happiness when I said that but Sasuke blanched, I could tell he was happy but at same time also troubled "But that doesn't mean I should help you. You three are Shinobi now, technically you are adult. I can't always be there and hold their hands, they have to go with their own feets sometime. Surely you agree, right Sasuke? Naruto?"

"Hn..."

"Hai..."

Sasuke and Naruto responded with nod and agreement. Even if I always with them but they actually aware there time when they have to do something by themselves without my help. Not to mention those two also don't like it when I spoil them

We stop training together when we at age of 10. I left them alone because they need it. They need to learn to grow by themselves without my help. Sure at first time they didn't like it but slowly they accept it, it for their own good after all

One thing that I told them is if they need help don't hesitate to ask me but at same time don't always ask, it will do nothing but depending on me.

We still spending time together in daily routine but when come to training we did it by ourselves. Same thing occur to Hinata and Shino as well

"But since I heard you just attacked by Orochimaru of the Sannin, I think I will lent you hand this time." I said and push the Earth scroll to them "This, I will give this to you. You can search for the Heaven one..."

"But what about you?" Naruto asked with scowl. In response I merely pull out complete set of mine "Oh..."

"Who do you think I am Naruto? Surely I already gather mine." I said with chuckle and he rub his head sheepishly

"Ano... Haru-san..." Sakura called me and I turned to her "I was wondering how you crossed path with us?"

"Ah, well. I actually not far from here in first place and intent to go to meet with my teammate. But on my way I feel Naruto and Sasuke chakra and it seems weak, I decide to pay visit since I worry and when I sense there groups of other people. Well, you know the rest." I explained simply and Sakura nodded while accepting the answer "Anyway, I will leave now. Yakumo and Haku probably already waiting for me..." I began to stand again while pat my pants to brush away the dirt and dust. As I stand, I give look to Sasuke and smiled slightly "We will talk when this part done okay? I will give you time to think about it..." I said softly

"Haru..." Sasuke murmured with wide eyes and I only turned away from him, giving him sight of my back

"Hatred is necessary... It always needed... Just like Love also needed... White can't exist without Black and Black can't exist without White... For Human, hating and loving is something that will always happen... So you may hate Sasuke, you may hate me..." I turned and give look to him over my shoulder, I could tell Sasuke eyes wide in shock and there fear on it "But don't drag everyone around you... Don't sacrifice your Love for them and theirs for you... No matter how big your Hatred, always held Love inside your tainted heart. For that, what made you still Human until. Now..."

After saying that I gone with **Shunshin (Body Flicker)**, the technique almost like Shisui's. It near perfect but it not... I still not able to complete it, but I damn well can make second rate

* * *

Few hour later

"He's late..."

"Be patient Yakumo-san, surely Haru-sama have reason to be late. I'm sure he will arrive soon..."

Yakumo in reply only scowled slightly and cross her arms. Haru had said that he will come in few hours after his clone inform him. It already two hours and still there no sign of Haru

They waiting in near tower, very near in fact they now could see the tower entrance itself from their position. During all this time Yakumo have capture one team that carry scroll. It was one team from Konoha, sure they seems strong but the moment they entering her trap they done. Apparently it was like her predict, there another group that try to make trap around the tower

But when they about to make ambush, Yakumo ambush them first and they immediately trapped inside Genjutsu for hours and that enough time for Yakumo to send their body away.

The girl must admit, this exam was quite challenge. The team she face was no beginner and they know how to fight. She actually have hard time facing them but still manage in the end, it was thanks to urgent medical kit that Haru pack for her the wound she receive not become too severe

"Haku..." Yakumo called and the ice girl turn to her

"Yes, Yakumo-san?" Haku asked

Yakumo stare at Haku with stoic face. They are alone now, and the timing couldn't be better. True Haku often spend time with her but it was when in training, and when training time you come to train, not talk. Not to mention if the conversation swing to bad way will make awkward situation when in mission. But now? It was safe since they were in exam

"What your intention to Haru?" Yakumo decided to ask

The ice girl blinked once before surprise adorn her face, clearly she taken back by sudden question

"Yakumo-san, I will never harm Haru-sama. He-"

"I'm not talking about that." Yakumo cut her with scowl again "But about your relationship with him.."

Haku once again blinked but not once but few times. It like what Yakumo said is something that similar 'Sakura &amp; Sasuke going date.'

"Yakumo-san... If you must know I did not hold any romance feeling to Haru-sama. Such thing is beyond me since I simply his tool and weapon." Haku said as she aware the situation clearly hold feeling to her Lord and she quite jealous at her

Inwardly Haku can't help but actually quite annoyed to Yakumo despite they being teammate. Her behavior toward Haru-sama was too much to the point it make Haru-sama bothered

"Well... If you say so. *sigh* No offense Haku but dealing with Hyuuga already too much." Yakumo grunted with slight annoyance

"If I may Yakumo-san." Haku said "Surely you know your action actually disturb Haru-sama rather than gaining his favor. Then why you decide to pursue him in this way?"

"What you mean by that?" Yakumo blinked "Aren't all guy like girl who offensive? Haru clearly like it. He just too shy and think we still too young."

This time it was Haku turnwho blinked. She almost let out chuckle and think it was joke until she realize Yakumo stare at her with serious look. She didn't know either she still should laugh due to the stupidity or sighed now

"Well... For once I think Haru-sama actually quite bothered rather than enjoying it."

"But Haru is man! And Genma-sensei said most men like offensive girl!"

Ah, so that's the source of the problem

Haku only let out sigh at that, this girl... Really... She very tempted to reprimand Yakumo now, she really are but she doubt it will change the way she thinking

Though, thing could be said different for Genma-sensei... Yes, she will tell Haru-sama about this and clearly Haru will work to pay Genma back and she sure Genma will rethink his action

After all, the two Chunin that she drugged under Haru-sama order certainly quite suffer. The special herbs she brought during her journey with Zabuza-sama clearly useful!

"But Haku... Don't you think Haru seems too... Intimate with you?" Yakumo asked and Haku blinked before her mind went back to when they spend time together

* * *

**Flashback**

"Haru-sama?"

"Morning Haku and I told you to call me Haru or Haru-san Haku..."

"It doesn't matter, Haru-sama will be always Haru-sama to me..."

Haru let out sigh, he will rub his temple had his hands now not used

"Haru-sama, what's that?" Haku asked

"Breakfast..." Haru answered while holding the food to Haku who still in her bed "For you..."

"But! I'm your Servant! Shouldn't I the one who-"

"Nonsense! You are my friend! I just doing my job!"

"But our house different! How could-"

"Then Haku-chan, I order you to EAT!"

**Another flashback**

"Haru-sama what are you doing?"

"I'm reading with you. Oh, does this medical book you learn about? You know, I can use medical ninjutsu, want me to teach you? It won't be hard"

"I will be honored Haru-sama, Zabuza-sama never take medic nin since it was rare to find one who become rogue."

"Uh huh! Good then! Well you want this book?"

"Yes, it was simple and easy to understand but-"

"Then I will buy it for you."

"Haru-sama! By any chance I-"

"Ah hush you! You need to lighten up Haku! You said you want to free and find your path by follow me? Then hear my command!"

**Another flashback**

"... ... ..."

"Haru-sama?"

"... ... ..."

"Haru-sama?"

"Ah! M-My mistake Haku! I-It just! ... ... Wow! You look... Beautiful in that dress..."

*cue blush on Haku face*

"T-Thank you for your praise Haru-sama..."

Cue awkward silence appear

"L-Let's see you try this cloth..."

"H-Hai!"

**Flashback end**

* * *

Haku must said she inwardly agree with what Yakumo said is true. She can't help but blushed as she recall the last part. It was when they have shopping together, naturally she went with Yakumo but after she arrive in home Haru want to see her in outfit

She clearly remember Haru face who openly gawked at her with blush that rivaled certain Hyuuga. To be honest Haru knew she not bad looking but she never believe herself to be that beauty, surely Yakumo more beauty than her right?

Could it be true? Could it be Haru-sama harbor feeling to her?

Now that just silly, surely he not. Haru-sama is her Master, it will be inappropriate for het to think like that! She just his tool and Servant! She can't think like that!

"Haku?"

The ice girl brought out from her mind when her teammate call her as she turned to her with slight look

"Ah, sorry Yakumo-san. I assure you there no way Haru-sama will think me in that manner. Haru-sama just..." Haku paused as her mind drifted and trying to find the correct words "I think... He just give me guidance?"

Yakumo furrowed her eyebrow at that, it more like question rather than statement. Though it wasn't wrong actually, Haru just try to guide Haku into become better person and release herself from her Servant-complex... But still...

"If you say so then..." Yakumo simple reply as she staring back at the entrance of tower

Haku only nodded but not make comment, she still seems in deep thought, mustering about her relationship with Haru-sama

It was then when her trained sharp ears caught sounds of movement. It was far from them but it come to their direction with fast! Her muscles immediately tensed, senbons slipped to her fingers slowly, ready to use

Yakumo notice Haku act also immediately prepare herself. Her hands already clapped together, ready to cast illusion just in case

Not long afterward a figures dropped in front ofthem. It was Haru and... Unfamiliar red haired girl who wearing glasses...

"Haku you possess bloodline of Ice and Yakumo yours is genjutsu." Haru said immediately in order to calm them down so not mistake him as impostor

Haku hearing that relaxed, only few know about that. Yakumo meanwhile not that easy as she staring at Haru with sharp eyes

"That's not enough, prove it more..." Yakumo demanded "Answer my question, if you really Haru you will know this."

"Eh?" Haru blinked "Sure..."

"What my bra color?" Yakumo asked in most serious tone

It take a moment to consume that words before everyone reacted. Haru make sounds like choking in his throat, Karin blushed and Haku let out deep sigh

"Yakumo! You can't possibly!"

"I show it to your clone few hours ago. Surely you still remember right?"

"B-But! That was-"

"Do it or I cast genjutsu now..."

Haru sputter indignantly for moment before he take deep breath and let it out slowly, he calmed his mind and close his eyes in resignation

"C-Could at least I said it in private?" Haru asked and Yakumo hummed. She perform hand seals and immediately Haru felt strange sensation on his body 'Shee trap me in Genjutsu? Clever one.'

"So what is it?" Yakumo asked

"... Light brown..." Haru said with small timid tone as his face adorned by blush and he avoiding Yakumo gaze

"Fair enough!" Yakumo said with smug face. Now now, she not pervert and exhibistioner, she just enjoying Haru blushed face. The boy was very hard to tease and it must take heavy measure to make him blush, he look quite adorable after all

Haru only grumbled before cancel the genjutsu around him disperse as he cancel it with single hand seal. He then notice Yakumo smug look now replaced with frown again "What?"

"Who that girl?" Yakumo pointed to Karin with narrowing gaze and the girl flinched slightly

"Ah! Right! I found her and save her from Bear. Her teammate dead, attacked by spiders. So I bring her with me..." Haru said as he gesturing Karin to step forward and the girl did "Everyone meet Karin Uzumaki, long cousin of Naruto.."

...

...

...

...

""WHAT?!""

* * *

"This is the second time Haru-kun... Really..." Hiruzen said with twinkle in his eyes

"On my defense Kami-sama, I never wish it for happen." I defended myself, it was lie of course but he didn't need to know that

It just been two hours after I regrouped with my team. Apparently we are the fourth team that manage to come, we in third day after all. However we are the first team that come from our generation

How can I tell?

The fact Genma blabber about how he win the gamble while promising going to treat us when this done is more than enough

And now after that I found myself speak with Hokage face in face along with Karin at my side. We right now was on office that placed in this Tower

I already told him how I face Orochimaru. I pick my words carefully and told him that Orochimaru merely playing at me -which is true sadly-. Hiruzen of course lecturing me how foolish what I did and give me small chiding too but all in all he seems happy I was fine and unharmed

Then it come when I told him about Karin

"And how you know this woman is Uzumaki Haru-kun?" Hiruzen asked

"A book..." I answered make he furrowed his eyebrow "I get it from old man in mission of Wave. When we done, I talk with old man in shop who ask about Naruto surname. From him, I learn everything..." I stated and Hiruzen hummed while rubbing his beard

"Nami no Kuni was neightbor of Uzu no Kuni... It shouldn't surprise actually but still it is..." He said with thoughtful expression

"Why you hide it from Naruto?" I asked and its true

The information about Uzumaki Clan is not erased like what people thought, it was covered and saved. The information was on Library special for Jonin or above level Shinobi. That's why while people hate Naruto but there few who not, they not just see Naruto as real person but they see him as last legacy of Uzumaki

"You must know Haru-kun, Uzumaki is very special clan. They are cousin of Senju clan and possess unique Chakra. Their body also incredibly more strong and all Uzumaki clan possess high longevity body and stamina..." Hiruzen said with troubled face

In other words, they are beast in human form... All direct descendant of Kaguya Otsutsuki always have their speciality. Kaguya clan with body that possess bone stronger than steel, Uzumaki with their longevity body and high stamina, Senju with body that able to adapt with foreign chakra -Senjutsu for example-, Uchiha and Hyuuga with eyes that able to show the nature of Human body and capable to combats

"And power attract another power..." I said with solemn tone and Hiruzen nodded, his expression grave

"Make no mistake Haru-kun, I never mean to hide it from Naruto or the public. Uzumaki clan not filled with weaklings. They all very powerful to the point Kiri, Kumo and Iwa joined forces to destroy their village. They also possess many enemy and people who after them for their bloodline..." Hiruzen replied "I forced to hide about them because our village very weak that time, Kyuubi damage from attacking Konoha is very severe, we even already have Iwa ninja and Kiri try to sneaking. That time wasn't save and we all busy, all in all it mean to protect Naruto.."

I know exactly what he mean by that. Kyuubi unlike all Bijuu, it was the largest and possess half of Juubi true power. Juubi in incomplete form destroy Konoha from Rai no Kuni

It shoot a fucking Bijuudama from country to another country without difficult for God sake!

Kyuubi who possess half of it power clearly something that need to be feared. Sandaime Raikage maybe able to go toe on toe with Hachibi, but I damn sure he will die if fighting Kyuubi. Kyuubi with only quarter of his power able to fight with four other Bijuu!

Konoha really very weak that time... Their security lacked and if people find out there Uzumaki remain in village, Hyuuga Incindent won't be the only kidnap attempt

"I understand Kami-sama..." I told him after moment of silence and processing what he said

Hiruzen give satisfied look and warm smile with nod, then he tturned to Karin "And you sure this girl is Uzumaki?"

"I had no doubt..." I said with firm tone "Long red hair and possess large amount of chakra for her age. Kami-sama, Karin-san possess high-Chunin chakra reserve already..."

"Hmmm... We will see about that after we check him on Hospital. Where the rest of your teammate?" He asked to Karin

"T-They dead Hokage-sama... H-Haru-san and I found... Remnant of their corpses, it seems they killed by animals." Karin said in meek tone, no doubt she nervous

Not killed by animals, more like feeded to animals by me. What? Those two actually only knocked out in Cannon. I don't want to take risk so I kill them then give their body to animals

I never said I'm good person after all

"Well Karin-chan, we will do test to you then. If you from Uzumaki clan then you welcome to stay here rather than Kusa if you wish..." Hiruzen offered and Karin

The red haired woman seems pondering about it. If I recall she have no family or people care to her in Kusa. In fact there people who want to sold her after she finish Chunin Exam. So the answer is obvious

"I-I'd like to stay here Hokage-sama, but Kusa were-"

"Then it decided!" Hiruzen cut her with nod "You didn't need to worry about Kusa, I will send message to them and explain it by myself later..."

It was actually not need to be asked... Kusagakure only small village that even only filled with Chunin mostly perhaps, the stronger maybe on ANBU captain level but that's it

Like it or not, they only small village and I sure they will happy give one Shinobi to Konoha. Hiruzen won't mention about Karin heritage to them, I sure of that. Even if they aware, the question is : What they could do? They are weak, comparing Konoha to them is like comparing Tiger to Deer

And what Deer could to against Tiger? Even if the giant predator dying there nothing it could do...

Hiruzen while peace lover but at same time also Kami no Shinobi who had lead Konoha SURVIVE through TWO Great Shinobi War and come out as VICTORY

Once again I told you, the only reason Orochimaru lose against Orochimaru because he fight Shodaime and Nidaime at same time if not surely he will win

This is why I respect and admire him, this man who not possess any special bloodline able to master five element nature manipulation and also create over thousand jutsu. This man called Professor isn't for nothing

And I also aware this man aware that I manipulate people around me but he let it go because I never mean harm and as long I have friends in this village, I won't go wild

And he true, I didn't intent to harm Konoha

Not yet at least...

"Now Karin-chan could you leave now? I have something to discuss with Haru-kun, and here." He handed her some paper "Give it to one of examiner and he will test your blood."

Karin nodded as she took it. She give last glance to me and I smiled warmly to her, she blushed before turned away and leave. As soon she leave, I turned back to Hiruzen who exhale smoke from his pipe

What he want to ask?

"Did Orochimaru find out?" He asked and I blinked

"About what?" I asked back

"Your Sharingan..."

At mention of that I freeze immediately like statue. He knew?! He knew about my eyes?! About my heritage?! How?! When?!

My expression must be very clear like my thought since Hiruzen let out chuckle while staring at me with mirth on his eyes

"I found out one year ago, how I did that is secret though. Now Haru-kun, answer mine first. Because Orochimaru aftering young Sasuke-kun, if he knew you are Uchiha as well..."

"Thankfully no Kami-sama. I had no doubt he did not..." I assured

"Like you sure I won't find out?"

The tone he use filled with amusement despite it filled with gentle and warm he always use. It was clear what I should do now in my current situation.

Fell to knee and lower my head to the ground -I doing this everytime I meet him actually-

"Kami-sama! Forgive me! I never intent to fool you! I just hide it in order to-"

"Stand up Haru..."

Gone the warm voice now and it replaced by steel. It only make me freeze more but somehow stand and follow his order. As I stare at his face, I can't find any warm or grandfather face that I always see. It replaced by steel and stern look

The look of Kami no Shinobi...

"I won't beat any bush. Why?" He asked. No, he demanded

"Kami-sama..." I gulped "I... Just didn't know what to do with it... I found out when I was nine... I plan to telling you and I knew I should but... That man..."

"That man?" Hiruzen eyebrow rised

"The one called Danzo..."

Hiruzen face gaining understanding for moment hearing my words but it replaced by stern again "And what you know about him?"

"Kami-sama, he give me... Bad vibe... I don't know why but when I see him my mind screamed to avoid him... I then do check about him and noted he was your teammate.." I paused and narrowed my eyes "I decided if he was on same team with you, Kami-sama then it better if I didn't pull his attention..."

Technically I didn't lie, I told him half truth. I hide it from Hiruzen because of Danzo. I sure that old bastar could find it out, no doubt he had spy on Hokage ANBU. But now? The. ANBU wasn't here, only Hiruzen alone so it fine

Hiruzen didn't change his expression, it still stern with puff of smoke come out from his pipe. Slowly he close his eyes and sighed

"You are right on that part. That man quite dangerous Haru-kun. By any chance, does he ever approach you?"

"No he not..." I said and this time I being honest 100%.

Hiruzen stare at me with steel eyes, I can't decipher what he thinking. Not in this situation, I'm not the one who become predator after all now

"Well... Then we can only hope Orochimaru won't find out..."

Oh I sure he not, if he did he already going to mark me. But that's not my problem now. Even if I not show it but I inwardly afraid, this conversation clearly caught my guard

"I think that's all I could said for now Haru. You can leave if you want..." Hiruzen said "And... Is there anything else you wish to tell me?"

Other than my Sharingan? I don't think so...

"No Kami-sama..." I said sincerely and he nodded

"Then I bid you farewell and good luck for your next part of Exam Haru-kun." Hiruzen give me warm smile this time and I nodded before turned to leave

But no longer I trust that smile

Because I had see it... Beneath that warm and grandfather smile I had see it... I had see glimpse of person that called Kami no Shinobi

I don't know what else he knew about me. He able to find out my Sharingan is complete shock seeing I always wear my sunglasses if I train and active my eyes

But this man... Able to see it... He able to see my lie... I sure as hell my cover nearly perfect and shouldn't be able to seen but once again I proved wrong

I maybe Monster... But I still small... I still not reaching my potential to face the other Monsters in this World, this is proof of that

But worry not... One day, I shall become the biggest Monster in this World... Nothing will stand in my way... Even if I have to kill few of my friends...

It was Kill or be Killed after all...

That is the top rule in my mind...

And I will be the one that Killing...

* * *

**Anddd done! Ahahaha hello everyone! How is it?!**

**Sorry quite long to take update, as you see I'm busy with my college. It was start to getting harder, especially my grade quite down now *sigh***

**Anyway! Enough with that stuff! So how you found this chapter?! Of course you all should aware Haru could kick Dosu team without hard time if he want, Sasuke practically did after all and he not as strong as when he fight Gaara that time. He fast, but Lee could be faster**

**Haru here is fast, I won't tell how fast but it will be revealed later**

**As for Sasuke envy to Haru, I sure few of you actually see that. It wasn't difficult to caught, Sasuke himself display jealousy toward Itachi and Naruto**

**And for Hiruzen, what?! Surely you all aware Haru won't always have easy time! No matter how manipulator Haru, Hiruzen still better. He was old and experienced enough, surely he will aware that Haru possess Sharingan just give him time!**

**Anyway! I thinks that's all, it was short note this time. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter! Next will be small relaxation and began of prelminaries! Of course Haru enemy already decided but if you wish for give suggestion it still open! Though Haru probably won't fight in next chapter, he already fight quite many in this arc ne?**

**And! I also looking for Beta! If there who someone out there who willing please PM me!**

**Thank you for reading and please give Favorite, Follow, and Review to this Story!**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	24. Preparation of Preliminary

**Ch****apter 23. Preparation of Prel****i****minary**

* * *

My eyes open in instant and my whole body stiffened, every muscle in my body seems jolted as if electric flowed through the vein in muscles

Slowly, I let out groan as I force myself to sit, ignoring small headache and part of my mind that tell me to laid back again and continue to sleep

My vision still blur, my eyes dilated slightly as I try my best to take minimum amount of light that shine to my pupil. I briefly glance to the clock and found it was 04:45AM in morning

I'm always wake in early, even before I come to this World everyday I awake in morning. It was force of habit, though sometime if I too tired to move I will keep sleeping. Originally in my World I use that chance to went through my cell phone, chatting or playing game in it before taking bath

In here however, I use those time to clean myself in instant and start my daily exercise in morning. For straight these ten years every morning I use to train my body, not just that, you could said every days of those ten years I use to train mostly

Unlike Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata or everyone. I use all my days to train, I never spend my times to have fun, if I did it because I forced to company Naruto and everyone but never once I spend my private time to relax or playing

I didn't need to study since I already smart enough, I didn't need to search for friends because they were the one who come to me -after I give few words in here and there-, I didn't need to search about what I should improve because I already knew in first place.

Knowledge is power

In my past life I never take that as serious things, but in here? Oh, I really, really take it to my heart. It was really fortunate that I quite fans of Naruto despite I was adult in my previous live. While I'm not fans of anime but I always read their wikia to see the storyline and the technique their perform

In morning, I normally going to take jogging around Konoha straight for two hours before went back to Uchiha Compound to clean myself before made breakfast for Naruto and Sasuke during our days in Ninja Academy, when we become Ninja I made extra food when dinner and place it in fridge so Naruto and Sasuke could heat it for their breakfast

And despite all the tiresome activity I went through, I never feel tired. True at first and two years I feel tired but when I keep going and never give up somehow my body accustomed with it

In my previous life, I will out of breath after do one hundred push up, but in here? I could do two hundreds push up nonstop and still have my breath

I don't know exactly how that could happen. I'm not a doctor but I sure that was pretty big things if I compare it to normal people from my World. So how, I, who in thirteen years old body could perform it?

The only things I could said was, Chakra

What Chakra is actually mystery... I remember reading discussion in Wikia, at first people said Chakra is combination of **Ki (Physical Energy)** and **Reiryoku (Spiritual Energy)**. However it was revealed by Hagoromo that it wasn't

Chakra is something that act like a bridge, like wifi or things like that. I didn't get it what it mean but the big picture, Chakra was something that connect one people to another. However Shinobi break that connection and mold the link to their Ki, turning them into weapon

Maybe when people break those link they gained super power. One thing I could tell, the Man in this World was multiple times stronger than my previous World. They maybe not Human anymore, something like Meta-Human according to DC Universe

So that's why, thirteen years old boy like me could perform amazing things. I could ran faster than car and jump higher than Kangaroo, heck! Even Naruto when at age of eight already could jump straight for two meters!

Anyway, back to the track. Like I said, in morning I usually began to train. However, today I'm not

It because right now I were in middle of Second Chunin Exam and staying in the Tower. This tower was huge I told you, don't believe what you see in anime. That thing clearly got biased, this tower almost as large as one tower of Marina Bay Sand Hotel

... Well, maybe not that tall, but the width was like that. The point is, it large enough to be considered as high-class apartment, except it only have twelve floor

For all who finish the exam, they given one room while waiting for the result. It was like apartment, it has three bedroom with AC and in Japanese style.

"Obviously I awake too early, damn. Wish I could go back to sleep." I grumbled as I go out from the room. I never sleep naked, I always wear short pants and casual t-shirt. I really wish I could go back to sleep but once I awake it take hours for me to sleep back and judging by the time it would be noon already

And I'm not awake early because certain thick eyebrowed Genin in green spandex yell about "YOUTH!" in middle of morning, nope, not a bit

As I enter the bathroom, I set the water to warmth and began to loss in my mind

Hiruzen knew... He knew I have Sharingan... For one year he knew... For straight one year! Three hundred sixty five days! That man knew!

When he declare that, it take everything I have to not turned to blumber mess and sputter everything to him. Damn. Damn. Damn! Damnit!

I underestimated that man. I should knew he will find out, he was feared even by Danzo for some reason! A man who made children into puppet and loyal dogs, a man who basked in dark side of Shinobi, a man who called **Shinobi no Yami (Shinobi of Darkness)**, a man who kill even his own man with cold blood when they knew too much!

There another problem... If Hiruzen knew... How about Danzo?

A shiver went through my spine. If Hiruzen die later in Oto-Suna Invasion, Danzo would be free and able to make move. Homura and Koharu mostly agree with him, though they held more morality but I sure they no match to Danzo

I have ace under my sleeve when I going to face him, but the problem was his Men. His army. If I kill him I doubt his men going to leave me alone, that man was one of worse enemy I have now

As I finish taking bath, I turn off the shower and brush my teeth. After that also finish I dry myself and wrap the towel around my waist, all while still pondering what should I do to Hiruzen and any possibility he knew more than I planned

When I come out, I meet face to face with Yakumo

...

...

...

...

...

Yakumo face slowly lift down to my below

...

...

...

...

...

Then there strange gleam on her eyes, followed by small pink hue. Slowly, I take step back to bathroom and slam it close

...

That was really freak me out

* * *

"You cooking all of this?" Yakumo asked as she stared at the food on table that I just placed

"Yeah... What you think Naruto and Sasuke eat when they child? Instant Ramen?" I asked back to her "Actually, Naruto does. But Sasuke clearly not." I added as I remember Naruto always prefer instant ramen for breakfast when we still kid but due to my stern lecture he eat normal food now

"Well... That was true but..." Yakumo stare at the food while have her eyebrow scrunched "I never seen these kind of foods before... And is that noodle? It too big to be one." She pointed to the spaghetti that I made

"Just eat then comment Yakumo." I said while take seat after pull out my apron

"Haru-san, you keep working yourself." Haku said, she frowned as she stare at me "I already told you, you could leave cooking to me."

"But I enjoy made breakfast!"

"You said same things when you doing manual labor Haru-sama." Haku retorted and I blanched when she change the honorific, if she did that it mean she quite upset "Honestly Haru-sama, for what you have Servant if you didn't use her?" She asked while sighing

Yakumo who about to chomp her food frozen in place while I immediately put dumbfounded look. The raven haired girl seems notice our look as she do 'blink blink' motion before her black eyes widened as she realize what she just said

"I didn't mean it in that way!" She added, her voice despite sounds calm but there small squeak in there "I mean like washing dish, cleaning room or such things!" She stated as she try her best to give us stoic look but small pink hue on her cheeks clearly ruin that effect "Anyway! Haru-sama, I will be the one who wash the dish after this!" She said in matter of fact tone

"Fine, fine." I replied with small smirk of amusement on my face "You do the dish later Haku, but eat now." I ordered as I push her plate to her

She scowl a little but nodded nonetheless as she began to eat, Yakumo only stare at Haku with narrowed eyes for moment before she chomp her food

"Mmm!" Yakumo moaned and her eyes widen a bit "This is... Good! This is really good! What this food called Haru?" She asked as she stare at the spaghetti she just eat in wonder

"Spaghetti." I answered as I eat my food too

"How in name of Rikudō Sennin you able to made this?! This is marvelous Haru!" Yakumo said, she was clearly in awe while slurping the sauced pasta. I must say her reaction quite make me proud to myself, even Hiruzen also praise my cooking

"I'm just that good." I said while smirking slightly

"Hmmm... You able to cook, strong, smart and gentleman as well... You really epitome of perfect man aren't you?" Yakumo stated as she flash me sly smirk

"You exaggerated things Yakumo." I snorted in amusement as I drink my tea

"No, I really mean it. I mean, you are very strong, so strong at our age. Genma-sensei even said you could be considered as Tokubetsu Jōnin already! Your behavior also mature enough and also you great in cook and mind you cooking is not easy!" She said as she take pause and stare at the food in front of her "You are so perfect!"

At the last statement I almost freeze. No, not almost, I really freeze for one second, I sure of that.

"Well..." I quickly try to say something in order to make her not notice my flinch "If you put it that way... I guess it just natural things for me." I said in weak tone make Yakumo give me look "Hey! On my defense, I just learning and it come naturally!" Then I coughed a bit "Though I admit, I do burn half of kitchen one time." I confessed in sheepish tone, I still remember that time. I try to made pizza but I fail, miserably I must say.

Yakumo look at me while blinking twice before she let out snicker "Well, it seems you not that perfect eh?"

"I never was. I just hard worker." I admitted as I resume to eat, trying my best to ignore Haku strange look at me

So perfect

Is that... Is that what giving me in? It... It couldn't be true... Could it?

No... No... Yakumo right... I'm perfect... I'm too perfect to the point it should be impossible...

Now I get it why Hiruzen find out and why Danzo possibly not. It because I make contact with him, I talk, converse, spending time, and close to him

He knew I'm too perfect, no normal child should be this good. The perfect child like me perhaps only few, Orochimaru and Itachi. And he knew child like me is adult in all but age, he knew someone like us, have ambition, have something we wish f or

And a spy...

There spy in my group... In people that gather with me... Giving him information what suspicious about me and then he put the puzzle together... I won't call spy seeing I knew them very well, he/she probably give information to Hiruzen because he/she worry about my behavior

But who...? Who?

Among Rookie 9, people who close to me only Shino, Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke...

Naruto is out of order, that guy will never lie to me. Heck, I even sure he more loyal to me rather than Hiruzen... But that possibility seeing he worry about me and report it to him, though it only small chance seeing I will notice it immediately.

Sasuke? Possibly, he afraid I will be like Itachi. But I never act like ass or hide something from him. I also often spend private time with him so there no way...

No...

Calm, Haru, calm. Think... Sasuke and Naruto stay with me, I will notice if they acting strange to me immediately so both of them out of question

That leave Shino and Hinata...

Both of them also have what Sasuke and Naruto not have... Abilities to spy... Shino with his bug, Hinata with her Byakugan...

I won't be surprise if it between them but who? And how I will deal with it?

"Haru-san?"

I broke out from my calculating as Haku voice echoed in my ear, I turned to her and give puzzled look

"You seems spacing out for moment." Haku said "Your food will get cold." She added as she gestured to my plate, there small concern on her voice

"Yeah... And you also have strange expression." Yakumo added too while sipping her tea "Is there something wrong?"

Damn, it looks like there nothing I could do now... While true I should think about the possibility in future but brooding like this won't do. Not when I stay with Yakumo and Haku, not want them to suspicious or worry too much. Not now...

"I'm fine... Just thinking about Naruto and the other." I lied smoothly "Tomorrow would be the last day, I hope his group will finish today so they able to rest."

Yakumo and Haku apparently bought that as they make understand face "I won't worry too much, Haru-san." Haku said to me in reassuring tone "Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san quite strong. Not at your level but they clearly quite strong. Their strengths perhaps could be considered as Chūnin material already."

"Yeah." Yakumo grunted "Naruto was quite something. I mean, he could spawn hundred of clones and not look tired a bit! Genma-sensei said he only could create less than thirty! That was mean something right?"

"You right." I responded with small fake sigh of relief

"Anyway, do you all have any idea what the third exam would be?" Yakumo asked me

I blinked and about to ask her what she mean but then I remember Preleminary Exam actually was surprise, it held because the participant were too many

"Hmmm... If I recall it was some kind of tournament." I remarked

"Tournament?" Yakumo asked, she sounded surprise "One on one or team vs team?"

"Probably one on one."

"Ehh?! Is that mean only on person could become Chūnin?!"

"No." I shook my head "Yakumo, do you understand what Chūnin position mean?"

Yakumo take thoughtful expression at that, she seems try to remember what she read "Well, sometime a Chūnin could become leader team in one mission right? I assume it mean it won't be just strength that counted?"

"Exactly." I grunted in satisfaction seeing she get the picture, well she's Heiress of her clan after all so she should be know about thing like this "There many factor that counted, not just strength. Skills, mind, strategy, mental condition and many more. For example, let just say someone have power of Jōnin, however when he lead his team on Mission he make stupid decision that make his whole team killed. That person won't be a Chūnin due to his incompetence

"While true the moment you become Genin you already counted as adult, but that only occur in verbal law. Adult people like other Shinobi still going to look down to you, Genin after all almost same like Pawn if you count it as Shogi piece. It was position where you being lead, where you being guided.

"Chūnin meanwhile is something else, when you become Chūnin you expected to be able to lead. Know the risk of what you going to do not just in one aspect but many, you already seen as someone who competence enough and could take responsible for your team squad live

"True there few Chūnin who not smart and become Chūnin due to having power however most of them actually becoming squad rather than leader or become Academy Teacher."

Yakumo seems in deep thought as she taking my words, I had no doubt she now already make preparation in her head and plan how she going to handle the coming exam. It was clear in tournament later she doubt she could win against me seeing I the one who often train her. So she probably going to ask her uncle or Genma for suggestion

Haku meanwhile not show any expression, she was calm while staring at Yakumo but I had no doubt she also think how to handle the Third exam later

"Anyway, I will take my leave then." I said as I finish my food "I intent to take look around to see who else already pass this stage."

Yakumo perked up at that and she also stand "I will go with you."

"No." I declined instantly "No offense, but I wish to left alone for now Yakumo. I have something I need to think about..."

Yakumo frowned she not look she agree with me and about to protest but Haku cut her before she able to "Yakumo-san, remember our talk yesterday."

Talk? What talk?

Yakumo who hearing that put troubled face, but it only short as it replaced by sigh that escape from her mouth "Fine, fine. But you better not get in trouble and back before dinner."

I quirked eyebrow when hear such motherly words "What are you? My Mother?" I asked while let out small snort

"I'm your future wife." Yakumo said bluntly make my left eye twitched "And I don't want my future husband becoming someone who often drink."

"Drink?! I'm thirteen for God sake Yakumo!"

"You are Ninja, already adult in law and could buy alcohol if you wish to."

Another twitch appear on skin around my left eye as I see Yakumo smug face and Haku amused expression. This woman really damn annoying, perhaps I could ask Naruto to prank her later

* * *

Big...

That was the first thing occur to my mind as I stand in top of the tower while glancing at my surrounding

The tree in Forest of the Death undoubtedly big. During my travel to wave my team were crossed over forest too but never in my live -here or previous one- I see tree this big

The tree matched the tower that stand tall proudly, their branch even large enough for people place table and chair in there

How this forest created was mystery. There rumor that this forest created by First Hokage to seal some demon that threatened to appear, there rumor that this tree was contaminated by Kyuubi remnant, there rumor that First Hokage manage to trap some malevolent spirt and bound it to here and there rumor that this tree was created by First Hokage who in despair and grief for losing his best friend, Madara Uchiha

The first and second was clearly impossible for me but the last? That was possible and if it true then the tree in here growth big because Hashirama Senjutsu power

But I can't confirm it seeing I can't sense Senjutsu energy who only could be sensed by another Senjutsu user, add the fact I'm not good in sensor, the most thing I could do was basic and that's it. I can't do things like other advanced Sensor Nin who able to sense Chakra spike from side of village to other side of village

I shift my gaze, while most tree was blocking my sight due to their height but there few who not, I still could see Konoha Village from this far

Let me tell you something, despite Narutoverse looks like Japanese and else but they actually not. I having hard time to learn it in first place how to write their words, during my previous life I recognize few Kanji such as Uzumaki Naruto or else and when I write it in adult I got laughed

They using Kanji, yes. But it different, despite they look alike but the way it written was different... What? I don't know how to explain it since I didn't think about that far! I mean, what for knowledge about writing when you must use all time to train?!

Then there their technology too. Their technology not advanced, there no such things called internet, car or bike. But GPS, camera, wireless and radio does exist, such things like walkie-talkie often used in patrol or mission

Now, now, all of you wondering about how people from Narutoverse actually stupid if they can't create things like car, gun or else right?

Wrong.

Let me ask you, what for car, bike or ship when they could run faster than them? They could jump over the tree that make spider-man looks like joke and walking in water like Christ

What for jet or plane when your enemy could shoot you down from far using Jutsu and make it explode? That machine only going to hinder them rather than helping them

Then why don't they create some kind of armor or things that helping their abilities? If it that easy then Narutoverse already would be like Star Wars

And there factor of dependance too, it because people mostly already content enough and depend on Chakra that they not see it uses to create something. It could be also because this World indeed in primitive state and they went through war after war

Before all Village formed, all Shinobi only a clans. There thousands of them scattered in this planet, do you think in those numbers they could create some cool machine? I don't think so, they have so many enemies in that time since there no union save for their own clansmen

Then after system of Shinobi Village formed by Hashirama and Madara, the War explode again. I read in history book it mostly because the Clans that formed to Village harbor ill to same enemies, they never intent to be friend in first place, only allies

Then Hashirama made his move

He become the first person that make Peace Treaty between Five Elemental Nations come, the first person that brought peace to this bloody World that had been in War for so long

The title God of Shinobi was very suited for him

But it not last long... Twenty years later the Second Shinobi War explode

Chakra made people in this World do amazing things. But at same time it could make people lose screw in their head as well.

Power is Evil, Power is corrupt and absolute power is absolute corrupt

Personally, I didn't give a shit about those quote actually. In my mind, power is a power, it was a tool. That's it, it not alive and it won't corrupt you

It just that Human who in first place is wrong in head

Anyway, back to the track. Where was I? Oh yeah, technologies and culture in here. The reason why people in Naruto place still can't find things like that was because most people think they already have enough power, they already content

Take example of this, Obama maybe President of America but he clearly only Human. Put gun in his head and shoot it then he will die. In here? Put gun in Fourth Raikage head and shoot it, the bullet will bounce back to you

See what I mean? People in our World become so creative and able to create many weapons because they don't have anything in first place. They bare and naked, they need weapon

People in here? They already have weapon, their body, they are living one in fact so most of them already content enough. True there few who born weak and try to make weapon, becoming inventor but... They actually not often to be looked or even have enough resource

Why? The strong rule the weak, simple. Why the strong want the weak to be strong too? Only moron will do that

So you could understand why this World very immature in technology term. True they maybe have radio or such things, however they only have their basic form. As far I knew there no TV in this era, they do have Movie for entertainment but they don't have device that able. To spread it to the whole World or continent like in ours

My body stiffened as I feel someone approaching my location. Despite how I look calm or dazed but I always keep my sensor awake, it only cover few dozen meters around me perhaps but it more than enough to caught ambush, unless that person really talented in hiding

I heard sounds of metal groan from behind me as the door opened, I still not turned my gaze away from the scenery in front of me since I knew judging by amount of Chakra the person have he/she not a Chūnin or Jonin

"Ara, Haru is that you?"

When hear familiar voice I turned around, clad in her pink sleeveless outfit and have her hair tied into twin Chinese-style bun on either side of her head, Tenten appear from the door while looking surprised

"Sempai..." I grunted out as I turn my body fully to her. I shouldn't surprise seeing her in here, giving she already has complete set of scroll and there Neji and Lee in her team as well, both of them considered as Chūnin already. Neji probably better seeing he already become Jōnin in Pre-Shippuden time

"Hello." She greeted back lightly as she approach me "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just enjoying the scenery." I replied as I shift my gaze back to the forest before return it to her "How about you?"

"Same thing, same thing." She waved her hand in nonchalant manner as she also stare at the forest "How your night?"

"Better than the last three days obviously." I joked a little, earning small twitch on her lips "How about you?"

"Same thing, same thing." She joked back while shoot me grin. I hold the urge to roll my eyes and only shook my head instead "So... Something interesting happen in your exam?" She asked me curiously

Well, I had small fight with the infamous Snake Sannin and got my ass kicked, I kill more than three team of Konoha Ninja, and I save Karin Uzumaki so she could be my new puppet

Of course I didn't said that aloud, it will earn me incredulous look or got reported to Hokage in instant for treason and my dangerous behavior

"There team from Suna..." I said as I recall Gaara team, technically this isn't lie, I did watch them but from television "I happen to spy on them when I on my way."

"Oh..." Tenten quirked her eyebrow in interest "Care to share?"

"There not much." I shook my head slightly "The one who fight was the red haired one."

"The short man with scary eyes?" She asked, and it my turn to rose one eyebrow at the way she call Gaara "Hey, you know that's true right?"

"Indeed..." I smirk a little before put back my infamous 'Uchiha stoic face', the one that I copy from Itachi and emo people! "He's dangerous..." I said gravely, my tone quite serious "He have ability to control sand."

"Control sand?" Tenten face scrunched to small scowl

"There no explanation. He did control sand, he manipulate them like someone play with puppet. He could use that sand as shield and weapon..."

"Using sand as weapon eh..." Tenten rubbed her chin "That quite strange technique..."

"Strange but effective..." I remarked "He use it to crush his opponent, alive."

Tenten grimaced, no doubt she just imagine it for moment "You mean... Like squeezing? Like when we crush bug between our two fingers?"

"Yes..." I confirmed while nodding and I could see Tenten seems shudder a bit "His sand also thick, thick enough and stronger than steel. I see Amegakure Shinobi rain him with needles that could pierce five millimeter thick steel sheet from all direction but it not even scratch him. He mold his sand into some kind like ball shield that protect him from all direction."

I see Tenten face express shock and surprise hearing my information. There even small fear in there and she should, she should fear Gaara. Even I afraid to him, he was insane and bloodthirsty, not good combination mind you. Add the fact she specialize in using weapon, her technique mostly won't even harm Gaara, it will be one side massacre rather than battle if they fight

"Damn..." Tenten muttered "You not lying about this aren't you?"

"What do I gain from lying?" I asked back "He Shinobi from Suna and you from Konoha, same like me. Why I should help him?"

"Good point." She responded before shudder a little "That also answer why he never even scathed on all his mission." She muttered

"Huh?"

"You didn't know? Some Rookie named Sasuke Uchiha ask information about him to senior who gather information around." Tenten explained to me "He explain it rather loud too and get strucked because make bad words to Otogakure Shinobi." She said to me before her face scrunched to thoughtful "Now I recall I not even see you before First Exam being held when everyone gather in room. Where were you?"

"I'm on corner of the room." I said and this also not lie, I did on corner side of the room after my talk with Gaara of course "I did see the Genjutsu that Chūnin Examiner place on second floor but I decide to ignore it since if people not even notice it then they obviously not Chūnin material and it also work to weed out the participant."

"Wow, you quite sharp aren't you?" Tenten whistled slightly at my explanation, I only give her small nod in grateful manner "Then? What else you could tell?"

"He's killer." I said grimly "Bordering to sociopath if you ask me, he kill the whole enemy team without blink and even that he still not satisfied and going to hunt more team despite already have complete set of scroll." I could see Tenten become paler slightly "He even threatened his older brother when he try to stop him."

"Brother?"

"They all siblings, I don't know which one the oldest but the red haired one -his name Gaara- is the youngest." I shook my head slightly to add the effect "I suggest to not fight him. It not like I underestimate you or your teammate competence Sempai but we dealing with Rabid Dog in here." I added grimly. Its true, even adult lion will be wary facing rabid dog despite the dog smaller and weaker, it because they carry illness and not right in mind. Would you deal with normal thug that stronger than you or insane thug that weaker than you? I prefer the first seeing you can't predict what the second would do

"Yeah... I guess you right in there..." Tented murmured while give small nod "But... Sand? I mean... Does the gourd he carry on his back filled with sand?" She asked

"Yes..."

"That mean the amount of sand he could control is limited." Tenten give small grin of relief at the loophole

"That's true..." I agreed while inwardly sighed, Kimimaro also make same mistake when facing him and the result was not pretty "However, I won't be so sure..."

"Why's that?" Tenten asked while blinking

"Well..." I paused and wondering how I should words it "Ground and earth actually possess same minerals and materials like Sand right? So..."

"There chance he maybe could made sand from the ground." Tenten finished after me with her eyes widened further "Damn! This guy is not joke!" She hissed slightly in frustrated manner

"This guy will be dangerous enemy... His sands while not fast but many and could overwhelm you and if it happen..."

"He will crush you like bug." She once again finished after me before rub her temple "Does explosive Kunai or tag would work against him?"

"If you manage to bring the explosive tag close enough to him I guess." I grunted while put hand on my chin in thoughtful manner "He maybe won't be harmed from the explosion due to his sand but the force of the impact still would struck him..." I said and give small nod, yeah it could work but... "But the explosive tag have to be very strong, enough to detonate high-average building if I guess." I added, but that would be expensive

Let me tell you about Explosive Tag. There four level of Explosive Tag that exist. The first level was enough to blow a person into death if it tagged in close range, the second strong enough to destroy one room or one pillar of building, the third one enough to destroy a whole house, the last was strong enough to blow this whole tower

I don't know how it created, however Explosive Tag was hard to made and also expensive. The only things I could tell was it hard because the higher level the note, the more it contain power which mean it harder to contain them into small paper

There rule about buying them as well. What? You not expect there aren't any right? I mean, who in right mind would allow Genin who just graduate carry many level four Explosive Tag?!

For Genin, us, we only could buy level one. For Chūnin number two and three, but there would be some written paper for permission to carry the latter, same thing occur to Tokubetsu Jonin. For Jōnin, Shinobi could carry the three of them

And how about number four?

It was limited, their numbers many but they not allowed to be used. You have to possess permission from Hokage in order to carry them since it really dangerous, all the explosion I mention before was only their power, but their radius still not counted

Though I doubt the one we have now enough to hurt Gaara, it would if you stuck it in his ass like what Naruto did when facing him

"Or we could use numbers." She suggested "Rather using one that strong we could use three or four."

"Yes, it true but it will be hard seeing he will notice them if there many." I instantly replied "He could use his sand a nd throw it back at you or he could crush them in instant."

"Yeah... You right on that part..." Tenten nodded while rubbed her chin "I guess then it depend on skill in the end eh?"

"Yes. If you skilled enough, you could snake one of them before using two."

"And there matter of his sands speed too, if we fast enough we could blow him before it protect him." Tenten grin now could rival her bowl haired teacher and fortunately her face not scrunched to ridiculous like them "There still a chance!"

"Of course there is." I said, giving small smile at her enthusiasm "Everyone always have a chance, even if it small and only 0,000000001% but there still number there right?"

"Playing philosophy now aren't you?" Tenten asked me with smirk

"Not really." I chuckled slightly in attempt to humor her

"Well! I guess thank you then for the information and help!" Tenten give me pat on the back, it was quite strong than normal pat I must say "I guess I owe you one now! If you need help, you not need to hesitate to ask me!" She puffed her chest slightly in boasting manner "As your Sempai, it my job to help my junior!"

It take everything I have to not laugh. Help me? You don't know what kind of man I am. Even now you not realize it that I already spread my web on you, waiting for you to fly to it

Alas, I still humor her in outside and give small nod "Thank you Sempai, I appreciate it." I smiled a little and Tenten give me nod. As I look at Tenten, it make me realize that she really looks like Minnie Mouse. Wearing pink and have twin bun like that... I held back chuckle at the image of Tenten that have two large bushy teeth like mouse in her face

"Oi, what with that face?" Tenten asked me, it seems she notice I staring at her

"Nothing... It just..." My eyes latched to the twin bun once again "You have unique hairstyle..."

"Do I?" Tenten then touch one of her bun while tilting her head with intent to show me "I don't like short hair, make me feels weird but long hair would be dangerous. Enemy could pull it so I tied it into like this."

"Well... That suit you though." I commented as I stare at her appearance "I mean, you not bad looking Sempai."

Tenten snorted at that "I'm average looking Haru, if compared to few girls I just normal. Not I mind though seeing I not see the problem of that."

"You not average..." I said while scowl slightly and its true. At least Tenten more good looking than Amy and her fellow. Tenten face actually almost like Hinata, taking shape as Asian-girl but Tenten Chinese instead Japan "I must say Sempai, you judge yourself too cheap. I could name list of girls that worse than you."

Hearing that Tenten blinked few times before small pink hue adorn her face and she grinned, her hand now rubbing back of her neck "Really? Well if you say so then..." She said in nonchalant tone but I could detect small shyness and happiness in there "You quite flatterer aren't you? You, yourself also not that bad looking."

"Really?"

"Of course you are! Now who the one that judge themselves too cheap? You at least better looking than Lee."

I grimaced at that, to compare it instantly like that... Lee actually not bad, he not ugly but the way he dress and his style was...

"Okay, maybe that not good choice of words." Tenten must be notice my grimace as she put sheepish face

I only grunted in reply

* * *

The day finally come...

The end of fifth day, exactly at 12:00AM, we got awakened with loud alarm like in military training program. It was quite surprise, they come at 11:45PM, knocking our door and told us to prepared for the next stage of the exam

Harsh, but make sense seeing this exam mean something, it not a play thing after all, a exam that decide are you worthy enough to be Chūnin or not.

During the fourth day and fifth day I didn't bother to come out, mostly I spend time in my room to train my chakra control -walking in the wall while have multiple things latched to me-. I didn't want to meet Naruto, Sasuke or everyone else, not in mood to talk to them. It better if I talk to them after this over

So right now, we all gathered. There twenty four people, Team Seven, Team Eight, Team Ten, Tenten Team, Backup Team, Kabuto Team, Otogakure Team and Suna team

I take a moment to look my surrounding, the moment I meet with familar face of certain blonde, Naruto waved at me while grinning happily. He still looks little tired but that's it, he seems able to go many rounds if he want to. If my calculation correct, he just arrive in morning of the Fifth day, a plenty time of rest

I see Sasuke look at me, our eyes meet and for moment they locked before Sasuke looked away, his face show shame and small fear. It seems he conscious when he got influenced by Cursed Seal

I really need to talk with him after this. It appear his Cursed Seal also still not sealed. Well, seeing he got sent to hospital straight for few days after it got sealed I guess there nothing Kakashi could do for now, unless Sasuke decide to back off and I doubt he will seeing he still quite prideful person despite he not avenger like in Canon

I give smile to Hinata who staring at me, she blushed at me but smile back in timid manner while poking her index fingers together. God, she so cute! I really love this girl! Why I don't have daughter like her in my previous life before?!

Probably because I'm single in that time

"First of all, congratulations on passing, everyone," Anko stated, her voice echoed across the room. "We will now have an explanation of the Third Exam from Hokage-sama. Everyone, listen well."

The event that happen after that pretty much same like in Canon. Hiruzen explain the meaning of Chūnin exam, question shooted by Tenten, by Naruto, then Kiba who protested when Hiruzen mention about fight to the death until Gaara talk

"I don't care" Gaara muttered, his gaze focused intently on the Hokage. "Tell us the details of this life-or-death exam."

Hiruzen stared at Gaara for moment, his eyes locked to the red haired boy before he nodded "I will, but first…"

A small flicker in the room and Chakra that moving in air was the thing I sense instantly, followed by figure that suddenly appeared appeared before the Hokage, kneeling. In instant as well I knew who this person immediately "Excuse me, Hokage-sama. I, Gekkou Hayate, the judge, will explain."

"Please do," Hiruzen said as he stare down at his kneeling Shinobi

Hayate stood up afterward, turning towards us. The man appearance was like how Canon describe it. He appear to be unhealthy and let out small cough

"Hey, he looks like half death already." Yakumo whispered to me make me sweatdropped at her blunt manner

"Hush!" I chided instantly while giving her look

"Yakumo-san, it not polite to said such thing." Haku apparently agree as she also chided Yakumo

"I'm just saying the truth." Yakumo huffed like petulant child. Truthfully she not blunt woman, she was Heiress after all and have her manner but sometime she act like this around people who she comfortable with

"A pleasure, everyone." Hayate greeted as his eyes felll to us "But, before the Third Exam, you'll need to fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle."

Aaaand the bomb dropped

There no panic or such things, no whisper or murmur. Everyone take the news like professional but I could tell they all surprised, even Neji who calm narrowed his eyes

The only person who appear unfazed was me and Gaara, none notice it of course save for Gaara who looking at me and I look straight back at him

I flash him small smile wave of hand

He turned his gaze back to Hayate

What a rude boy!

"Preliminary matches? What do you mean?" Shikamaru demanded, stepping forward and glaring. Well, for someone like him I guess I shouldn't be surprise he the first one who protest

Hayate sighed hearing the question "In this case, it must have been because the First and Second Exam were too easy, I don't know… But there are simply too many examinees left. According to Chūnin regulations, we must decrease the number of participants for the Third Exam. As previously mentioned by Hokage-sama, there are many guests for the Third Exam, so…"

He paused and he coughed a bit, does this man really that sick? It make me wonder how he could be this ill in first place "We cannot just have a lot of matches. We are limited on time, as well. So those who aren't feeling well… If anyone wants to quit after hearing the explanation please let me know. The preliminary matches will be immediately."

"Immediately?" Kiba the one who repeated, his voice breaking off into a growl.

"But, we just got through the Second Exam." Ino muttered, looking crestfallen. Well, unlike team Seven, Team. Ten was the last team that enter. They come in afternoon and only able to relax shorter than everyone in here

"How troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled in his breath

"Ah, I forgot to mention this, but you will have one-on-one matches from here on out. So please withdraw if you wish."

This time I turned my gaze to Team Seven. I caught sight of Sakura who arguing with Sasuke, I can't heard what they said since they whispering to each other and not long Naruto join the conversation

I don't know what but it seems Naruto able to calm down the situation as I see Sakura the one who back down, she cast concerned glance to Sasuke who notice that I watching them

I give concerned look at him, sending silent question and Sasuke seems caught it as he give me nod and stern look despite he still wincing due to pain. Seeing the look I give him small smile and rise my hand a little while curling it into fist in gesture to support him

Sasuke appear to be surprised before he smiled back to me and nodded as well

Then, suddenly one hand raised to the air. And like in Canon it was Kabuto's hand that raised into the air. "I'll quit."

"K-Kabuto-san?" Naruto asked in disbelief, he also appear to be shocked.

Hayate glanced at his clipboard hearing the request, searching for the data before glancing back at Kabuto "You are Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto? You may leave then."

"Kabuto-san, why are you quitting?" Naruto demanded.

Kabuto paused, glancing back at Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but my body hasn't recovered from the Second Exam and I'm afraid I simply wouldn't be much of a challenge for anyone."

Kabuto smiled and waved before he walked away. I stare at the man back with stoic face. He should be disposed soon, but right now even I aware I'm not strong enough to beat him.

I notice Haku also give critical look at Kabuto, turning to her I asked "What with that look?"

"He not normal Genin..." Haku whispered to me, make my eyes widened at that. Haku recognize Kabuto?! Does they had meet before in past?!

"What you mean?"

"We fight in Forest before and he's good... Very good..." Haku answered as she now stare at me "He not Genin, like you Haru-san he special. He could even beat Sasuke-san without much difficult if he wish to so..."

A confrontation in Forest? Now this is interesting, I will need to milk the story out from Haku later

"Let's talk about this later." I said to her

"Yes Haru-san."

"May I assume there are no more people who wish to retire?" Hayate asking to us while still coughing to us. "It will be a one-on-one match. Now that we have exactly twenty three people, we will have eleven matches… The name that not come out until the end of the match would be not fighting."

Ahh, so it still one on one match but with bonus eh? I guess it could be made into that simple

"The winners will be able to advance to the Third Exam. There are no rules. You will fight until the other person dies, is knocked out or admits defeat. I will be the judge to decide when it's over. I may stop you to prevent any unnecessary deaths. The thing that will hold your destiny…"

He motioned over to the monitor that came out from the wall on corner of the Hall and we all stare at it, at the device that would decide our fight

"Without further ado, I will now display the names for the first match."

Then, the words in the monitor shifted with fast and blur.

I held my breath at this... Until now there no change in the Exam because the presence of my team was not much, it not that big. Team Oto probably pass because they have help, it impossible for them to pass seeing I kill quite a lot of participant, be it Konoha Ninja or foreign one

However at same time I also not shocked they pass, Orochimaru or spy of Oto must help them already. That Snake Sannin still wish to use his Pawn, I'm sure of that so he ensure them to pass

But now... Now is different

There extra three people that included to the random shift. It will disrupt the flow, the match probably will be different from the Canon due to my presence

This is it... This could be bad or good I don't know... The worse thing was I could fight Gaara, if that happen it would be bad. I don't want him to kill me but I can't go all out in public like this. I could wound him but if he went berserk...

That would be dangerous

Though... I sure the first match would be

* * *

**Akadou Yoroi**

**VS**

**Uchiha Sasuke**

* * *

Them...

"Those with their names displayed, please step forward," Hayate said as his eyes scan our group

Sasuke and Yoroi walked to the front of the examinees.

"Are there any objections to this first match?" Hayate asked.

"No," Sasuke and Yoroi said in unison.

"We will now begin the first match. Everyone other than the two fighters, please move up there," Hayate said, motioning towards the balcony.

We all began to walk to the balcony, Yakumo and Haku on my sides. I'm not surprise Sasuke will be the first one who fight, Orochimaru must be the one who behind this. He knew Yoroi ability that's why he pair him, he want to see Sasuke unleash his Cursed Seal power

"So how the rest?" Genma asked us as he watching we approach him

"Its good, we ready to fight if we got called." Yakumo the one who answered with confident on her tone

"Quite confidence aren't you Ojou-san?" Genma smirked a bit while chewing his senbon "How about you Lover Boy?" He asked to me and have his smirk widened a bit

My left eyebrow twitched at the remark, I going to pay him back later "I'm good enough." I grunted

"That was to be expected from you." Genma chuckled before turning to Haku "How about you?"

"I'm fine and ready as well Sensei." Haku said while giving respectful bow

"Polite and respectful as always." Genma commented in approval tone "You could learn how to respect people from her you know Ojou-san?"

"Haku being respectful to anyone." Yakumo deadpanned "Even if it was enemy or brute so sorry if we can't be an Angel like her." She said dryly

"Yakumo-san!" Haku face was flushed slightly in embarrassment hearing the sudden exclamation

"Play nice girls." I interjected while give small smile to them

"Haruuu!"

I turned the moment I hear familiar cheerful voice. Naruto grinning face followed by Sakura and whole team Eight excluding their teacher approached me

"Naruto, I knew you will make it." I greeted back with small smile "And it good to see you all pass as well." I added as I stare at everyone

"Of course we will!" Kiba declared proudly "Haru, I'm Survival! A Natural Inuzuka! Add the fact there Shino and Hinata here who boost our teamwork! There no way we won't survive and pass!" He said in haughty manner as he give pat to Hinata and Shino

Of course they will, as Inuzuka Kiba was teached about wild life in his early age. Same thing occur to Shino as well seeing their clan work together with animals, they trained to adopt with their living behavior, teached to know how they act and what they need. The professional one even could give message to each other without talking or looking to each other

How that happen was mystery, no one know that save for Inuzuka clan themselves perhaps. However I already have guess, it perhaps because their Chakra had bonded and make them understand each other like what Hagoromo intent to in first place when he give Shinobi Chakra.

"Though I'm surprise.." Kiba eyes shifted to Naruto and he give teasing grin "That you here Naruto. I was thinking perhaps you and Sasuke kill each other."

"Hey! What you mean by that?!" Naruto responded with indignant manner "We won't kill each other, it will be me who kill him!"

"Speaking about Sasuke-kun." Hinata cut instantly, it seems she already knew where this would be going and not intent to heard their banter "T-There something off with him." She stutter a bit when I turn my gaze to her, there small pink hue adorning her face. This girl really stil shy doesn't she? Then again, I really hope she not change in that part seeing I found it very amusing

"Indeed... My insects detect disturbance on his Chakra flow." Shino added as he glanced at Sasuke below "Does something happen in forest?"

"Well..." Naruto put his best calm face but his nervousness still visible to everyone

"Apparently there someone who proficientin Fūinjutsu art facing Naruto group." I said, gaining their attention "The person did something to Sasuke Chakra circulatory system and it hamper his ability." It was half truth, not completely lie

"Then why he not bring it to Seal Master?" Shino asked

"There not enough time." Sakura added, it seems she already know my intention and decide to play along "Kakashi-sensei said the seal could be removed but it will make Sasuke-kun couldn't move a bit, and seeing we just arrive yesterday morning, Sasuke refused. He said he will take it after the second exam done but..."

"Who knew there will be preliminary like this." I continued after her while add fake grimace "What could you say? Sasuke was quite prideful person after all."

"I see..." Shino seems accept the answer as he nodded slightly, Kiba and Hinata too but the latter give worried glance to Sasuke

"Doesn't matter." I said as I leaned to the with small smirk "Sasuke is Uchiha, and he not hold that last name for nothing." I see Hayate raise his hand, ready to began the battle "He will win...". I declared firmly

"Akadou Yoroi versus Uchiha Sasuke. BEGIN!"

The first battle that declare the result of Second Exam, has began

* * *

**Hello you all! Its been a while since I update this one wasn't it?! I hope you all who loyal to this fanfic still not give up and still reading it!**

**Not much in this chapter save for Haru spend times before. The preliminary begin! In here we see him dealing with Hiruzen that found out about his secret and we all could see he clearly not happy with that**

**And yes! In preliminary, while some fight would be same like Canon but there will be few that different seeing Haku, Yakumo and Haru name included to the board now**

**Who going to fight Who?! Truthfully, I still looking idea how the fight. While I already have enemy for Haru in mind but for the other still not, add the fact I quite focused to my FateStay/NightxHighschoolDxD fanfic. Mann, it will be really busy eh?**

**Not like I hate it, I write story because I enjoy it and wish to share my imagination!**

**Anyway, enough talk. For you all information, chapter eleven to fifteen had been Beta Edited! All credit went to Frouade! Give applause to the cool guy! XD**

**Next chapter will be fight of Preliminary! Just stay tune to find out the battle!**

**Please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **


	25. Preliminary Exam (I)

**Chapter 25. Preliminary Exam! Part one**

* * *

Haru stare to Sasuke below in instant raising Kunai and blocking multiple shurikens that launched by Yoroi the moment the battle declared to begin.

He aware Sasuke can't use Chakra, not with that Cursed Seal on his neck. According to his memory, Yoroi actually formidable foe, he and his friend give quite trouble to Anko when she and Naruto in mission where that... Fish girl? Isarabi? Or is that Isabella?

Doesn't matter, such things is not his problem. But in that arc, Yoroi proved to be quite bothersome enemy. Compared him in that arc and the one in Chūnin exam arc won't be fair

'This could be troublesome...' Haru thought as his raven eyes peer down at the battle

However much to his relief, the battle went exactly like in Canon where Sasuke declared as the winner where he end the battle with **Shishirendan (Lion Combo)**. It seems Yoroi really not that good, it looks like he overestimate himself and got kicked in ass in the end. Or, he train himself so hard after Sasuke got him which resulted he become stronger in that Isabella girl arc

Whichever it is doesn't matter anyway for him

He see Kakashi instantly appear behind Sasuke who exhausted, the masked Jōnin seems muttering about something to him. Sasuke eyes flashed to his direction make Haru inwardly blinked, but it just for moment before he mutter something back to Kakashi. The Jōnin then proceed by gripping his shoulder and with 'poof' and white smoke, they disappear

"That was pretty intense..." Hinata murmured from his side, worry evident in her voice

"You could say so." Haru grunted in agreement, he briefly wonder why Sasuke look at his direction. It seems the Uchiha really wish to speak to him 'It just mean that his loyalty to me very high, probably bigger than anyone else.' He thought with obvious mirth

Despite many things he had done, in reality Haru never wish to change Canon. No... He knew if he change things so much it will be dangerous, he maybe have full knowledge of this World but this World is sentient. People like Danzo, Orochimaru and everyone is real, they are more experienced than him, more cunning and more dangerous

No matter how he train himself, but Haru knew people like Orochimaru and Danzo is someone he should be wary and fear. Not just they older than him -in previous life and now, even if the ages combined-, but they also has live longer in this Hell World and survive

The only advantage he get above them, is he knew the storyline. And he will be damned if he throw that away. No matter what, he try his best to make everything went similar like Canon

Why he should change many things if he can just pluck out mony advantage from them without working?

He need to lay low... Yes... After what happen with Hiruzen he need to lay low once again, though it maybe too late but at least late is better than never

'Or... I could make sure I get as many attention as possible and use them to cover me...' He thought as he spare brief glance to Naruto. One of the reason he sure Danzo never after him until now is because he with Naruto, and Hiruzen very, very favoring Naruto, thus as his best and veeery close friend and brother in all but blood, Hiruzen also protect him

But soon Hiruzen will dead... And that while good thing, but at same time also bad thing

Haru quite like Hiruzen actually, the old man truly someone he respected. He is the first Kage without any bloodline that receive title God of Shinobi, a title that only shared by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hashirama Senju, he also lead Konoha through Two Great Shinobi War and not just he survive but he make the village as the damn winner

If that is not something then he clearly doesn't know what else is it

Haru sure he will be sad when Hiruzen dead, he will cry in fact, but it was necessary. For his plan to work, just like what happen to Shisui, a sad and terrible things but it necessary for his plan

'I just hope I have the stomach to handle it when time come... Things is so much simple when I thought them as anime character but when I live with them...'

"Uh-oh..."

Naruto voice broke Haru out from his mind, it was then he realize the next fight already set. He see the name in the board and grimaced slightly

* * *

**Tenten**

**VS**

**Haku Yuki**

* * *

'Bad match up... Tenten certainly will lose no matter how good she is, Haku raised by Zabuza ever since she child after all.' Haru thought as he see Haku and Tenten walking down. The match already set, he knew that, Haku is Genin only in name, she could be considered as Chūnin or Tokubetsu Jōnin already in fact with her skill 'And this result also proved that the match won't be like Canon... Wonder who will be my enemy... As long it not Gaara.'

He didn't fear the boy... Okay he admit he quite afraid to him. If there one thing is sure, no one wish to fight crazy man, even if said the crazy man much weaker because it stupid thing and also troubling as well. Haru not afraid to Gaara power, no, he afraid to his psychotic nature

Fighting against powerful man is one thing, but fighting against rabid and powerful man is something else. Even rabid dog could be more dangerous than Lion in some case

'I could match anyone sans Gaara... So what I should think is, what would I do if I going to face him? Hmmm... Decision, decision, decision...'

He glanced to the red haired Jinchuuriki. He going to need him obviously in future, so killing him is big no. However if he face him, he can't afford to lose. He have to become Chūnin, he must have. He doesn't wish to follow the exam of Pre-Shippuden time, he only know a little about that exam and he hate something he doesn't know

Knowledge is Power after all

'Well... If I destined to fight Gaara... Then I guess I could be the one who bring him back to 'Light'. His status as future Kazekage and loyalty will be very useful after all...'

* * *

Haku stare at Tenten, her face set into polite smile. Tenten also have same expression

"Second match, Haku Yuki vs Tenten. Are there any objections to this match?" Hayate asked as he glanced between the two girls

"No."

"Nope."

"Very well... The second match, Tenten versus Haku Yuki begin!"

As soon Hayate swung down his hand, Tenten jumped back, flipping in proceed doing that and slip three kunai to her fingers. The moment she finish creating distance, she throw the star shaped knife in instant

Haku who did nothing in begin bending her body slightly, allowing the projectiles to pass through her. She slip pair of senbons to her fingers and throw it

Unlike all projectiles, despite senbon is weak and only used for medic, it also very effective to kill in hand of professional. It not large, their small size allow it to hard to be seen, a quite stealthy weapon and a clean strike from them to few area will be resulted very fatal

And Haku has raised from child to wield such weapon, add the fact the one that raise her is not beginner, but one could be called expert, she very proficient handling it.

Her throw were elegance and stealthy, just like always she use it and had her enemy is normal Genin, they won't even aware it struck them. However, Tenten is not, she is kunoichi who expert in handling shinobi tools, it was her specialize, her level in that aspect even enough to surpass normal Chūnin

Tenten twisting her body, another pairs of shuriken already slipped between her fingers once again when she dodge the attack. She throwing it in instant she dodge Haku senbons, at same time, she dashed and also tucked her other arms in instant and make pulling motion

Haku dodge it again by bending her body, however her eyes caught small, and almost unseen strings in the air. Instantly knowing what is it for, she ducked just in time to dodge a pair of shuriken that first throwed come back to her. However when she ducked, Tenten already close enough, a wakizashi in her hand and she not even show any sign of hesitation to swing it down

It just few centimeters away from her face, however before it touch or harm her, Haku gone in blur, letting the short slice nothing but empty space

Tenten eyes widened, she doesn't have time to think what just happen before pain struck her head from her side. She feel her body hurled away, it was not strong enough to make her feel so much pain to the point she can't imbalance herself though. Straightening her body, she spin in air and landed on her four limbs, glaring at Haku who now rushed to her with fast

'She fast!' Tenten thought as she quickly stand again, raising her wakizashi. Not as fast as Lee when removing his weight, but this kunoichi certainly good, not like the one who playing Ninja in her early age

Steel clashed against steel as Haku kunai meet Tenten wakizashi. There small pause as their eyes meet to each other before Tenten twist her body, delivering kick to Haku who jump away

Flipping in air, Haku throw the kunai down to Tenten. The twin bun haired girl dodge it, but when she did that, five senbons already close to where she stand. Raising her wakizashi, Tenten swat away the projectiles. She stare at at Haku who landed and watching her with analytic eyes

"You are Haru teammate huh?" Tenten asked as she eyeing the girl back with same look

"I am..." Haku admitted with nod

"Well..." Tenten let small smirk adorn her fact at that "No wonder you good in weapon, Haru quite good as well."

Haku blinked her eyes once, she smiled slightly and tilt her head a bit "I'm sorry to disappoint you Tenten-san, but Haru-san never teach me in my weapon skills."

Tenten in response blinked back, surprised expression crossed to her face "Really? Well, doesn't matter then." She twirl the wakizashi on her arm before grip it tightly "Let continue.." She grinned

In response, Haku merely raise one hand, forming a seal while her other hand raised to air, creating a familiar stance to Team 7 and Backup Team

**"Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden in Mist Technique)"** She muttered

_Then, the air freeze_

It was well known creating mist out of air was actually hard, even to Jōnin level ninja, only one with high affinity water element can do that. Proof that Zabuza always fight in wet area and splash the area where he fight

But to Haku? The one who can create ice from thin of air? The one who can create very strong ice that even held firm in face of hot fire? That wasn't hard, not at all.

The temperature of the tower dropped in instant. White mist formed from thin of air, slithering and crawling toward the floor and wall like a shadow that cover the bright earth and licking the air and empty space like flame, covering the one who control them with their form

Tenten eyes widened at the sight of mist that appear out of nowhere. She not wasting any time as she charging to Haku in instant so she not loss sight of her, she just few feets away but she not made it, Haku body devoured by the white mist when she close to her and gone from her sight

* * *

"Its over..." Haru commented aloud as he eyed the mist from balcony "Haku certainly stop playing around..."

Lee who hearing that feel small spark of indignation at the declaration of her friend being lose "Not yet! Tenten still could make it!" He declared

In response, Haku only shook his head "I knew Tenten-sempai is good, very good in fact, I admit that. But so do Haku, and with her eyesight sealed..." He trailed as he resuming to watch

"Nonetheless! Tenten had fight in situation like this." Gai come to support as he staring at the mist "She still can make it."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Haru here."

Everyone near the conversation turned when hear familiar face, they all see Kakashi arrive via 'poof' of white smoke

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greeted in instant with grin Lyou back!"

"Sensei... How Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, worry in her face as she thinking about her teammate

"Sasuke is fine..." Kakashi replied in reassuring tone "Right now he resting in hospital." He said as he already had seal the mark 'Though, he now protected by ANBU.' He thought. After meeting with Orochimaru, he not wishing to leave Sasuke alone, that man is dangerous and he don't want to take a risk

Haru meanwhile only put fake concern expression but after hearing Kakashi said Sasuke in hospital he change it to fake relief and he relaxed his muscle slightly to make sure people see it as sign of relieve

He knew Orochimaru follow the silver haired Jōnin somehow. The Oto Jōnin that act as Dosu team teacher still in here actually, which mean there no Orochimaru in disguise. That actually make sense, there no way Hiruzen won't recognize Orochimaru if he that close

'Well... It seems... Not everything went like in Canon. Which mean Orochimaru probably around here but not in this hall. Though he probably already leaving now.'

* * *

Tenten cursed as she see the enemy disappear, the mist was thick, undoubtedly thick. True people still able to see through it but it was hard, very hard! And what's more, the pace of the mist still increase

'But I'm not the only one who can't see... Calm down Tenten, you-'

She let out scream of pain as something lodged to her shoulder, she briefly glanced and see three senbons lodged to it, making her eyes widened

'With Senbon in her arsenal and the way she throw it... Damn, this is bad...'

Quickly, she pull out four kunais, all of them latched by explosive tag. She jumped, pumping Chakra to her leg as many as she could in order to strengthen her feet and bring her higher so she could get better view

But when she in air, eight senbons launched to her. She raise two of kunai with explosive tage she hold, blocking the projectiles but two able to sneak id and stab her right thigh

Bitting down scream that threatened to come out, she throw the four kunais to different direction. She didn't need them to touch the ground, not long she thrown them, she make hand seal and detonate them

Like she predict, the force of the wind that created by the explosion swipe away the mist from the ground. Seeing this Tenten allow small smirk adorn her face but it quickly gone when she notice her enemy wasn't there

'What?! Where is-'

"I'm here..."

A voice come from her above make Tenten twist her body to look up and just in time to see Haku toe smacked to her chest painfully

Tenten let out grunt that turned to cough of blood when her back hit the ground. It hurt, however she is part of team Gai, pain is something that not foreign to her. The moment she hit the ground, she put all strength she have to roll her body back, she can't let her enemy get advantage!

She would succeed had three pair of senbons touch her bare neck and ready to pierce her flesh, threatening her to move

Haku stare down at Tenten who laying in ground, she crouched and looming over her while pressing the senbons slightly to her throat, drawing trickle of blood from it

"Give up..." Haku stated

Seeing this, Tenten only could nod weakly, the pain of falling still there and her eyes quite blurry due to that

Hayate who watching not need any confirmation, he had see everything the moment Haku smash her toe to Tenten chest. Raising her hand to Haku direction, he declared "Winner of second match, Haku Yuki!"

* * *

Haru in balcony let small smirk adorn his face as he stare at the result of the fight. He tempted to boast his teammate loudly but shut it down, his smirk gone and set into small smile instead, he must act subtle after all

Yakumo meanwhile not

"Hmph!" Yakumo grunted in haughty voice "As expected from Haku." She said, smirking while staring at Haku "There no way she will beaten by mere ninja tools."

Haru caught small flash of annoyance in Lee eyes and inwardly sighed. Well, Yakumo quite perfectionist after all seeing she raised as Heiress and things like that. Though, she did that because she also try to cover her weakness, despite she behaved strong and haughty, but deep inside she only a girl that try to prove herself

'Just like Naruto...' Haru thought with small sigh "Maa, Yakumo not need to said things like that. Tenten quite good too you know, I dare say she quite kunoichi, I had small fight with her after all." He chided lightly "It just her luck she ran to Haku."

Yakumo quirked her eyebrow at that, but slowly she give nod along with grunt

"I-I think Tenten-san also strong as well." Hinata added as she get closer to Haru slightly. She knew who Haku really is from Haru and Naruto story, the twin bun haired girl actually good but sadly, Haku is something else

"No one ask you Hyūga." Yakumo replied in stony tone

Hinata narrowed her pale eyes at that before her face set into small frown "I'm t-talking with H-Haru-kun." She retorted

Haru face set into 'The hell you bring me into?!' expression hearing the conversation

Naruto face scrunched to amused at this, Sakura also cover her mouth to stiffle giggle that escape from her lip, so do Shino -though his unseen due to his high collar shirt-. The other Jōnin who near also have their own expression

"Ah... Young Love..." Gai spoke loudly "Your flame of youth blazing with radiant!" He said while grinning and give thumb up

'Of all thing he could said!' Haru yelled in frustration at Gai remark, he really wish to deck the man thick eyebrow and shave it! He already have hard time to pretend oblivious at Hinata feeling! This comment clearly not helping

Quickly respond to make anyone not skeptical or suspicious, Haru rolled his eyes in attempt to make he looks like exasperated "Please Maito-sensei... We were twelve, what kind of love we have?" He snorted slightly and mentally pat his back on the act

He notice Hinata stiffened slightly and Yakumo merely huffed her cheeks at his remark

"Ah! Haru-kun! Call me Gai-sensei! I'm not that old! One can't underestimated the power of Love!" Gai replied with serious look "Love can blossom at any time and anywhere! Ages is doesn't matter! If you love someone! Love her to the max!"

"I think you talking about different love." Haru remarked dully, eliciting snicker from Naruto "And yeah, perhaps Gai-sensei better. You doesn't have any white hair after all." He added as he look up, down to Gai form

Kakashi eyebrow twitched, his Jōnin colleague let out snort and snicker at Haku words, he instinctly rub his hair "Maa. Haru, are you talking about me?" He said, giving the boy small glare with his lone eye

"Huh?" Haru turned to him with innocent face before his eyes widen slightly "Ah! No, I'm sorry if you offended Kakashi-san!" He said in apologetic manner

Inwardly he laugh at Kakashi one eye that twitched, he just insult him more and get away with it! Ahh, being manipulative could be feel so good sometime

Before Kakashi could reply, sounds of Haku footstep heard by them. Haru instantly turned to her in order to change the conversation, he don't wish to debate further, not if he already win

"Haku! Congratulation! I knew you will win!" Haru praised with big grin

"That's good show Haku.." Yakumo added with nod of respect

Haku in response smiled to him kindly "Thank you everyone." She said in genuine tone

In response, Haru merely give pat on her back "I expect no less from you! With this, one of our team is surely going to become Chūnin!" He praised

Haku blushed slightly under the praise and Haru smirked inwardly. It not like he try to woo her, but Haku is someone who have Servant complex, she has been so long thinking of herself as a tool rather than living being

Giving her attention and praising her is the best thing to do, she quite similar like Naruto, a boy who abandoned and seeking for purpose. Haru could play that, it to ensure Haku stay loyal to him, at same time also show that Haru really good guy and someone who has no ill intent toward her

Well... He don't have any ill intent actually, but if she dead tomorrow or next five minutes Haru only going to shed fake tears and lamenting inwardly that he loss such great weapon

What? He never said he's good guy! His intent even quite malicious!

"Thank you Haru-san." Haku said in slight demure voice

"Anytime! You are my friends after all!" Haru replied

Meanwhile everyone who watched have different reaction. Naruto was glad that Haru be kind to Haku, seeing the girl actually similar like him he happy that she now found someone precious other than Zabuza. Yakumo quirked eyebrow at the blush that appear on Haku face but decide to ignore it, she knew Haku harbor no feeling to him

Hinata meanwhile tilted her head slightly, a small scowl placed on her face. She actually don't know about Haku, save for she is rogue kunoichi that befriend with Naruto, and seeing she not bad or desire to revenge her comrade, she accepted. It not like everyone not willing to share her the true story, but Haku has her own privacy as well

The Jōnin only watch the scene with amusement. Kurenai spare small glance to Hinata though, worrying about her. Kakashi only giggled while Genma smirked

It was then they heard sound of 'DING!', indicating the projector has been set once again.

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki**

**VS**

**Zaku Abumi**

* * *

'Another different pair...' Haru thought with raised eyebrow 'This is the third match already, hmmm... Wonder when my turn..' He glanced to Naruto who shouted in enthusiasm "Good luck Naruto!"

"Of course I will!" Naruto replied in confident manner as he jump down from the balcony

"W-Will he be okay?" Hinata asked in concern

"Naruto is strong Hinata." Sakura surprisingly the one who come to support "I had see him fight and he also keep continue his training... He will be okay."

"If Naruto lose against him, I going to train him for full a month." Haru added "And I will be harsh... Oh yeah, veeery harsh." He said with small smirk and gleam on his eyes

Yakumo who close to him shudder a bit she still remember how harsh Haru actually in training someone

* * *

Naruto stare at Zaku who sneered at him. Despite his enthusiasm but there anger hidden in his eyes. He had heard what did this guy do to Sakura and his friends few days ago after their encounter with Orochimaru

"I'm going to finish what I did in forest before." Zaku smirked cruelly "That boy is not going to save you now. I will deal with him after I finish with you."

"How funny." Naruto replied back in sarcasm "If I recall, my friends told me you went down just by single hit from Haru." He retorted. He grinning in glee at Zaku face who curled to snarl

"Began the match!" Zaku demanded, anger visible on his voice

"The third match, Naruto Uzumaki versus Zaku Abumi. Began!" Hayate declared as he instantly jumped away to avoid get caught in the battle

Zaku in instant launched himself to Naruto, kunai on his arm and he throw it to the blonde Genin. Naruto bended his body and doge it, in quick he thrust his hand, grabbing Zaku fist that aimed to his face and he pivoted his leg, throwing the Oto Genin over his shoulder

Zaku smirked, as he hurled in air, he twist his body in air, one palm opened and aimed to Naruto **"Zankūha! (Decapitating Airwaves)"**

A burst of torrent airwave explode from the tube on his palm, launching to Naruto who just thrown Zaku. Cursing, Naruto put strength on his legs and jump as far as he can, barely avoiding the attack. Quickly he rolling to the ground, slipped kunai on his hand

'Wind jutsu type eh? And arrogant one too just like that Teme... Feh...'

If there one thing Naruto good enough other than stealth, is he learn fast. He maybe not smart in book or such thing, but he learn very fast through experience

In Canon universe, Naruto would be having hard time had he fight Zaku in preliminary. It because his seal has been tampered by Orochimaru and he has no experience against fighter with long range like Zaku, add the fact he also not trained properly because he grow alone

But in here? That doesn't happen

In here, Naruto arrive faster than the original, it him have time to talk with Hiruzen who visiting due to wish to see Sasuke Cursed Seal. **Gogyō Fūin (Five Elements Seal)** is something that Hiruzen knew how to handle, with that Naruto Chakra that tampered fixed. And in here, Naruto not alone, he train with Haru and Sasuke properly, he not alone like his counterpart

Thus, this Naruto is stronger and in better condition to fight with Zaku

Forming familiar hand seal, Naruto run to Zaku **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Techniqu)"** with poof of smoke, six Narutos appear around him, each of them holding kunai and rush toward the Oto Genin

"You think numbers going to save you?!" Zaku aim both his palms to Naruto direction and another airwaves roared to live.

Two of Narutos clone perform hand seal, they cocked back their heads before hurled it forward "**"Fūton : Daitoppa! (Win****d relea****se: Great Breakthrough)""** They yelled

A gale of winds burst out from their mouth, they spew out in unison with same amount of power in order to make them balanced and not crashing to each other. It hurled toward the incoming airwaves and crashed

A large wave of air and kinetic force created the moment two gale of air pushing each other. The tower that build in middle of Forest of the Death by any mean is not normal one. It was harder, stronger, enchanted by note of Fūinjutsu that made by Seal Master, obviously it because the tower is placed in middle of Forest that filled with deadly animal

So even when the gale of wind roaring and trying to tore each other with force that capable to shred human into piece, it did not budge, not even crack were there

It wasn't hard to see that two of Narutos combined wind were more than enough to push Zaku back. The Oto Genin realize this, instantly he pumped more Chakra to the tube on his palm

The raging winds only last for few seconds before they dissipated to each other. Zaku then realize that the group of the Narutos already close enough, they all throw the kunais their hold

Zaku launch himself to aside, quickly he raise his hand again and this time he put as much Chakra he have in his palm and snarled **"Zankūkyokuha! (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)"** He roared

The wind roared the moment Zaku declare the name of his technique. Comparing the first one he launched to this would be comparing lion to cat, this one is big, massive even. The amount of the airwaves that screaming in space now is so large, even it able to put countless scratch and graze to the ground of the tower that enchanted

Zaku watched with glee as the winds tore the group of Narutos apart, shredded them like knife slicing paper, tearing them apart. However suddenly he realize there something wrong

There only four Naruto

'Where is-'

Pain instantly erupted from back of his head as he feel something slammed with hard to it. He tried to move his body but when he did a fist hammer his stomach, make him gagged, then a sweep kick slide his feet from the ground

Naruto not show any mercy, he remember Sakura condition when he awake. He and his clone slam both their fists together to Zaku chest and planted the man firm to the ground, eliciting blood out from his mouth

Naruto clone instantly stomp to Zaku thigh, hard, hard enough to make sounds of bone snapped, making the Oto Genin scream. Naruto himself deliver punch to his chest once again, making the dark spiky haired teen gasped out another blood

"That, bastard, for hurting Sakura-chan." Naruto said angrily as his cold blue eyes peered down at Zaku beaten form

Naruto stand firm, he let out small pant as he turned to Hayate. The sick looking ninja walked toward him, when he arrive he place his fingers on Zaku neck and smirked slightly

"Winner! Naruto Uzumaki!"

* * *

The audience stare at the battle with silence, their eyes containing various expression, from respect, small horror and fear at the brutality Naruto display. The blonde boy clearly not holding back

Even Haru also show surprise look

"Wow..." Yakumo let out small voice as her eyes wide and stare at Naruto "That... That was..."

"Brutal?" Hinata voiced meekly, she also surprised slightly at Naruto behavior

"No..." Yakumo shook her head, then her eyes gleamed with something "I want to say romantic..."

At that everyone who hearing turn to her and give her look as if she just grow pair of extra arms and second head

Realizing the look Yakumo quirked her eyebrow "What? Don't you heard his declaration? "That, bastard, for hurting Sakura-chan". What else you going to say?" She asked with smirk

At that Sakura blushed when hear the proclamation. If Yakumo put it that way, it does quite romantic

Hearing this, Hinata face take understanding and she let out giggle slightly. The others also seems relaxed and the tension lessened

Save for Haru

'A thirteen years old boy just beating other boy and broken his bones, probably ruptured one of his lung and that's it? That's their only response?' He thought while shook his head 'Well... What can I say? The morality in here is difference than my previous World, even I also found it... Usual...' He stare at Naruto who flashing victory grin to everyone

"Naruto-kun really strong." Hinata murmured, small smile adorn her face

"Indeed..." Shino nodded in agreement "Add the fact his enemy also seems overconfident."

Haru meanwhile not make any comment, he solely focused to Naruto. He still remember how it goes when he train him. As much he hate to say, training Naruto is hard, very hard

Now he knew why he only use Kage Bunshin or Rasengan mostly through the movie. Truthfully, he was thinking perhaps Kishimoto is lazy ass and not creative person, which is true actually. But in here? It because Naruto Chakra are too much

Naruto is Chakra monster, a cannon, a bomb. It not like Haru don't want to teach Naruto many Jutsu but it because Naruto have too much Chakra. Even if Haru train him in Chakra control, it won't be useful because soon his Chakra will be increased when he growth

Daitoppa, is one of technique that only require small Chakra control and depend on the user Chakra mostly. This technique is one of Jutsu that good for Naruto, it doesn't need to be shaped or molded properly, it only need power, similar like Rasengan

'Thinking about it... All most Jinchuuriki mostly have destructive technique. No one have simple and very clean one, save for Bee of course, but that man is old, obviously has training to control his Chakra long enough, ever since he child perhaps and he also in good pattern with his Bijuu so I guess he's an exception...'

There aspect of Bijuu that reside within him as well. Perhaps Bee still can control his Chakra because he possess Hachibi. Naruto meanwhile have Kyuubi, a being that even only have half of his power could match three Bijuu at same time. Why monstrous creature like Kyuubi need to control his Chakra and mold it to elemental technique? The fox can let out wave of Chakra and destroy portion of forest with ease, what for element for such creature?

'Doesn't matter... That could be thinking later, for now.' Haru flashed grin to Naruto who approaching him "Good job Naruto!" He praised, everyone near him also give nod and smile of congratulation

"Of course! Hehehe! Thanks!" Naruto grinned, his eyes closed like fox "It not much challenge though!" He added. Its true, despite he not left unscathed -some airwaves manage to hit and scratch him- but it still quite easy fight. He distract the guy, then henge himself into kunai and allow himself thrown by his clone then ambush that bastard

Haru smirk a bit, it was quite good plan actually. Against someone who careful and experienced perhaps it won't work, but to Zaku who reckless and arrogance? Add the fact he quite blinded by anger due to Naruto taunt, it make him vulnerable

"You really have grown aren't you?" Haru spoke suddenly, his voice filled with strange tone, not bad one

Naruto blinked, taken back by sudden tone in Haru voice

"I still remember when we five years old. You even throw shuriken backward rather forward." Haru chuckled, he still remember the event, how Naruto able to do that is mystery

"Haruu!" Naruto whined in instant, he look embarrassed as few people snort, snicker or giggling hearing what the brown haired boy said

"It just like yesterday you know... I remember it clearly." Haru sighed while shook his head before he glanced at Naruto and smiled softly "But look at you now! Becoming Shinobi and now in Chūnin exam..." He grinned slightly and pat the boy head, Naruto still quite shorter from him "I really proud of you Naruto."

Naruto stare at Haru with wide eyes, he feel blood in his vein flowed faster for moment. Slowly, pink hue appear on his face and he let out sheepish foxy grin

"Hehehe... Thanks..."

'He really care to him huh?' Kakashi thought with fondness as he stare at Haru

Everyone who near also show small smile at the scene they see. It doesn't take genius to see that Haru truly love Naruto -not in that way-, the boy also not afraid to show his affection nor he try to hide it either, instead, he look proud of it

"Ahhh! Brother love!" Gai make dreamy sound, tears flow down from both his eyes "How beautiful! Wouldn't you agree Lee?"

Lee also have manly tears, followed by snot on his nose as he sniffed "Hai! Gai-sensei!"

"We can't afford to lose! Let show our special bonds as well! Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sens-"

"Lee, is that your name?" Haru interfere quickly, Lee in instant turned his head and see the projector

* * *

**Yakumo Kurama**

**VS**

**Kin Tsuchi**

* * *

"Looks like it my turn..." Yakumo spoke, voice filled with mirth. She turned to Haru who smirked at the projector "Do you have any tips?"

Haru eyes narrowed hearing that, before he take thoughtful look "She genjutsu user as well." He said simply

The glee on Yakumo expression is visible as her face stretched to grin

"I see..." She purred slightly "Well, then see you later."

She jumped through the balcony and landed on the ground. Haru briefly glanced to Lee who sulking seeing it wasn't him who got called. He then notice the look Neji give to him, despite his face stoic but there hint of gratitude in there "Your Welcome." He speak aloud to him

The pale eyed boy blinked his eyes once, before he grunted and turned away

Haru let out small chuckle, does this mean Neji tsundere as well? Ahh, what a joke. He then notice it wasn't just Neji but the Jōnin near him, Naruto and Sakura also show gratitude look

"Good job Haru..." Genma praised with nod "I'm not in mood to see sunset now." He grumbled and the other Jōnin nodded solemnly. Haru snorted as Naruto and Sakura shivered, they must be has seen it when Lee challenge Sasuke

He doesn't want to see the infamous sunset. He never see it until now and he will never going to, the way two man clad in spandex and filled with muscle hugging each other is so damn wrong! So wrong in many level!

"Ano... Haru-san..."

Haru turned to Sakura who called him, his face set into polite look "Yes Sakura-san?"

"How did you know she's genjutsu user?" She asked curiously

"Well..." Haru rubbed his chin and put thoughtful face "Let just say I stalk them a bit after they retreat few days ago." He said mysteriously with wink

"Eh? Why you do that?"

Haru grinned, he always want to say this to someone "One can never be too careful, Constant Vigilance!"

Now, if only he have fake eye that rolled around...

He then notice that Kurenai face filled with concern, there mixture of guilt as well in there. Genma also seems notice it too as his eyes briefly move to her

"Don't worry Kurenai..." Genma said in reassuring tone, making the raven haired Jōnin turned to him "Yakumo is strong, she maybe not one who fight in physical aspect, but her Genjutsu, still top notch... You of all people should knew it. After all..." Genma allow small smirk appear on his face "No one knew her more than you..."

Kurenai seems reassured hearing that as she glanced down to Yakumo again. Truthfully she never talk with her even until now, call her coward, but after what she did to her... The guilt and feeling of shame that gnawing inside her was big

"Well... Except for Haru of course." Genma added as he glanced to the boy who perked at his name mentioned "He supposed to be her lover after all."

Eyebrow twitching, Haru try his best to ignore vein that twitched around Hinata eyes and gobsmacked look from Kurenai "For the last time, Sensei, Yakumo and I only friend."

"You are now... But in future?"

Haru only shake his head in exasperation, this isn't something he need now. He focus back to Yakumo fight while Sakura giggling at his dismay

* * *

Yakumo and Kin stare at each other, the Oto Genin observed the Heiress of Kurama appearance, trying to judge her. She won't make same mistake like Zaku did, that arrogant prick got his ass kicked because he too hot tempered and reckless

'Pale soft skin... Small muscle... This one obviously not someone who fight in melee range. A princess huh? A spoiled one like that pink haired pathetic girl.' Kin thought with scoff. She still remember the fight with the pink haired Genin, that girl while quite smart but obviously not fighter, the only reason she live because Zaku love to play with his prey too much, if it was her who deal with her the girl would be dead already

"The fourth match, Yakumo Kurama versus Kin Tsuchi. Begin!"

In instant, Kin slipped senbons to her fingers and throw it to Yakumo. The brown haired girl, ducked, she slip pair of shuriken to her fingers and throw it to the Oto Genin

Kin easily dodge it, she pull wave of senbons again and launched it to Yakumo who rolled and dodge the senbons, letting the small projectiles latched to wall. Quickly, Yakumo take two pair of shurikens and throw it

Kin simply dodge it once again, she let out another senbons to Yakumo. The Kurama Heiress prepared to dodge it, but when she about to, she heard sounds of bells ringing, quickly, she jump as high as possible, flipping in air in process and landed far away from her

'Bells?' She glanced to the bell that latched to the senbons, narrowing her eyes she sent smirk to Yakumo "Oh please, that trick won't work on me." She said in haughty tone

Kin in response merely smirked back "Really? I'd like to see you said that after you got hit, Princess." She replied as she slip out another senbons to her fingers

Yakumo merely snorted, she then clap her hands together and performing few hand seals and-

"As if I'd let you use Jutsu!"

Kin throw barrage of senbon while rushing to Yakumo. The brown haired girl forced to abandon her technique, clicking her tongue in distaste. She flip her body, dodging the projectiles and throw kunai to Kin. The Oto Genin tilted her head, let the kunai went through her and pulled her hand slightly while smirked

CLING!

Yakumo whole body freeze, it was then she notice there something wrong with her. For moment everything become dark before resumed, her eyes widened in instant as she feel her body numb

"W-What the..."

"Like it?" Kin asked with smirk "That bell is not ordinary one, it was special. It produces a particular sound wave, affect the brain."

"Shit!" Yakumo in instant try her best to cover her ears but it proved to be useless as she somehow still hear the bells ringing

"Too late. Once you heard the bell, you already trapped." Kin said in gleeful tone "Now..." Her voice distorted, so do herself, her body split into ten that circling Yakumo in omnious manner "Let play shall we?"

Yakumo body seized by barrage of Senbons of instant. All of them pierce through part of her body, however that wasn't the point, despite countless and many of them assault her body but none of them harm her fatally

But the pain is something else

To expert senbon user, striking a point that able to cause immense amount of pain isn't hard, mosty of senbon user actually medic who working. But with right intent, medic could be turned to opposite of it purpose

Kin not expert senbon user, but she has knowledge to use it, she has learn it. She maybe only third rate, but she knew the basic of using senbon and medic, she knew how to strike enemy in vital point

"Your scream quite exotic princess." Kin said with glee as she stare down at Yakumo bleeding form. The girl not reply, she has scream loudly for a minutes under her assault and now laying in ground weakly, live, but barely "Well, it not one of my best work but..." She shrugged in nonchalant manner before turned to Hayate "Oi, Proctor I-"

Only to find he not there

Blinking her eyes, Kin face scrunched to confusion. She turned her head to the Hokage to demand but then she found he not there too.

It was in that moment she notice something wrong

When Yakumo scream, she not heard any attempt of intervention from proctor, nor she hear gasp or horrified sounds from everyone.

And she right... Because there no one in there...

"W-What is this?" Kin stuttered, eyes wide and start to frantic as she look to all direction, to the hall that empty "W-Where is everybody?!"

_"Hi, hi, hi, hi."_

A giggle echoed in the empty arena, attracting Kin attention as she spun around. Yakumo still in ground, her face still covered by her hair but the giggle truly come from her, her body twitching slowly like a woman that possessed

"You just realize it now don't you?"

Then slowly she rose

Both of her bloodied palms pressed the ground, allowing crimson pool formed beneath it, her knee that filled with blood supporting her body, raising the Kurama Heiress slowly

Kin in instinct taken one step back, fear slowly crawled to her face. There nothing wrong with the sight she seen now, she not foreign with blood and gore, but there something, something that make her afraid

"Let me tell you something." She spoke, her voice is harsh, rough, dry like someone that not drink water for so long "When you made Genjutsu, you should be more creative..." Her body limping, her hair still flung down, covering her face from the World

Then, she lift it up

It was... A monster... An abomination... There nothing that could explaint it. It not worthy to be called as living being nor it called as creature. For mother nature will never ever give birth for such twisted and horrifying creature like it

Eyes large inhumanely, wide, pure black with nothing but sick yellow slit. Two horns on her foreheads, like a Devil. It has no mouth nor nose, only fangs, a sharp teeth that tearing fleash covering it, with crimson pool of blood oozing between it

_"**L**i**k**e **M**i**n**e"_

And Kin screamed

* * *

"HRRAAAAAHHHHRRRRR!"

To said everyone shocked was understanding

One moment Kin about to throw her senbon to Yakumo who performing hand seals and in next, the Oto Genin freeze when the Kurama Heiress clap her hands together

Then she fell into silence...

To anyone who knew about Genjutsu, it was clear Yakumo got Kin the moment she perform hand seal. Haru, Genma and Kurenai knew Yakumo is expert in Genjutsu, very expert in fact, her Genjutsu even can surpass Kurenai who hailed as Genjutsu Mistress in Konoha

The Oto Genin only freeze for less than minute, before she start to scream and fell to the ground. The scream that she let out is so inhumane, it wasn't scream that someone saw it nightmare, no. It was scream of someone that locked with it nightmare, caging by it worse fear and forced to see it, and no matter how that person wish to escape, to do anything to flee, it never granted

"Using Genjutsu on me, is stupid decision." Yakumo speak, voice filled with triumph as she stare at Kin who shrieaking in ground and clawing her body as if there something hidden beneath her skin

Had Kin fight in close range, the chance of her win clearly will be quite big seeing Yakumo quite weak in physical aspect due to her isolation. But she make mistake by trying to attempt use Genjutsu to her

In battle of Genjutsu, it wasn't matter of which one stronger or have more Chakra, but which one is more imaginative, which one that possess better control and which one who more have mental strength

Yakumo who raised in clan that specialize in Genjutsu, taught ever since she small, and possessing special bloodline that only one person that Kurama clan have it in few generation

Her imagination, and her control already surpassing any normal ninja. Even surpassing most Chūnin and could categorized as borderline to Jōnin perhaps. Her mental strength, is something that she not need to, because her bloodline, **Ryūketsu no Sakkaku (Bloody Illusion)** provide it to her

Ryūketsu no Sakkaku is not like what people think, it not just power that able to make pain in illusion into reality. To make pain into reality, you have to possess strong mental power, a very strong will that able to tear the fabric of reality. The moment Yakumo inherit this power, she gained very powerful mental strength that surpassing anyone could imagine, of course there drawback for such power, the dark personality that called Ido is proof of that

However, thanks for Third Hokage and Jiraya of Sannin, such problem could be handled. Of course, the side effect it would make Yakumo unable to use her real power due to part of it sealed, but it doesn't make her Genjutsu ability less potent

"Well... I guess you had enough." Yakumo said in pitying tone. With single motion of her hand seal, Kin whole body freeze, before she promptly pass out, foam merged from her mouth as if she just digesting poison "Proctor, call the match."

Hayate not need to check it anymore, Kin was clearly pass out already "Winner of fourth match, Yakumo Kurama!" He declared

* * *

"Oh hell, that girl must be see something very scary to scream like that..." Haru muttered with grimace

It wasn't hard to see the atmosphere changed. Where before there laid back and only slight tense, it changed the moment Yakumo finish her match. The horrifying scream that Kin let out is something that remind them back that they were participant that trying to kill each other to prove their worth

He could see Naruto, and Sakura squirmed slightly, clearly uncomfortable with it, so do the other Genins. The only one that not bothered perhaps is Team Suna, Haku and him, everyone show small sign of disturbed at the scream

"She... Quite cold..." Hinata muttered, disdain evident in her voice

'Not likely, she just use genjutsu and not harm her. Though she probably could use the less flashy one, but giving her nature...'

Haru knew what kind of person Yakumo is. She is someone who seeking attention, craving for fame due to her inferior complex. You can't blame her personality to Kurenai and her past for that, having her whole power sealed make her think herself unworthy and wish to prove herself

It similar like Naruto in one way, but instead don't have any firend and seeking companion due to loneliness, Yakumo seek for fame, for praise and respect

'A quite prideful person she is...' Haru thought as he give polite smile to Yakumo who approaching after winning her match "Good job Yakumo."

"Congratulation Yakumo-san." Haku congratulated as well

"Thanks." Yakumo grinned slightly "Not one of my best though..."

"You make thirteen years old girl screaming like a pig that roasted, resurrected and roasted once again and you said not the best?" Haru deadpanned

"Perhaps I should have her smacked her head to the wall repeatedly huh?" Yakumo said, she also has decency to look a bit sheepish at Haru tone

"I don't think it good one." Haru replied dryly "If you did it intentionally it will be more hurt than original." He grumbled loud enough as everyone staring at him expectantly

"Experience?" Kakashi asked

"Oh yeah..." Haru nodded "Trust me, I knew how it feel. I once smack my head to wall." He said as he recall the memory

"Why the hell you do that?" Kiba asked in tone that said 'are you stupid?'

"Because sometime facepalming is not enough..." Haru answered in dull tone "And yes, it had to do with Naruto and Sasuke." He added when he see Shino open his mouth slightly

"Hey!" Naruto protested indignantly

Kakashi snap his book close and he give Haru look of pity, he knew dealing with Naruto and Sasuke is hard. And this boy has been doing it for years, add the face he did it when they still a brat! "My condolence." He said sincerely in tone that voiced sadness and pity

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Of course he ignored again as Haru nodded with sagged shoulder

"Thank you."

"H-Haru-kun, don't being mean to Naruto-kun." Hinata chided lightly, despite she always shy at his side but she still could gather courage to chided him

"But Hinata-_chan_! You don't know the horror staying with them!" Haru replied in exasperated manner

The Hyūga blushed at the suffix, it. It sounds so nice and charming when he spoke it despite he only joking

She really had it bad

Yakumo scowled openly, clearly dislike seeing the conversation between Haru and Hinata

Fortunately Haru notice it as he quickly change the topic "Wonder who turn will be next..." He muttered as he staring at the projector that set once again

"Eager?" Genma asked

"Not really. Just curious, though..." Haru eyes briefly glanced to Gaara for moment "I wish I get my turn after this, I could be quite impatient."

"That surprising." Shino commented "Why? Because if you impatient then you must be already have grown old due to dealing with Naruto and Sasuke for years."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled indignantly "What that suppose to be mean?!"

Hinata and Haru openly giggling or chuckling while everyone else stare at Shino with gawked expression

"Dude, did you just make a joke?" Kiba asked

Shino turned to him, his sunglasses flashing due to the light that reflected to it "I don't know what you talking about."

Snort come from Haru, he let out another chuckle, not even try to hide his amusement

'Shino make a joke? This is the first time I heard it... It seems Haru-kun really close to him and Hinata huh?' Kurenai thought with fondness as she shake her head slightly

"How about you Hinata?" Haru asked

"E-Eh?" Hinata blurted out, seems nervous as her crush talking to her

"The fight..."

"Ah! A-Ah... Umm..." She glanced to other for moment, blush adorn her face as she twirl her index fingers together "I.. I think I will ready."

"Good. Show some confident, you are strong." Haru cheered for her

"H-Hai." She smiled demurely to him who grinned and ruffle her hair, eliciting moan from her

"Huh? Your hair smoother than usual." Haru commented, he blinked in surprise "Well, not like it bad things though. I just glad you take care of yourself." He said as he retract his hand

Hinata only blushed and look to the floor with very red face

'A simple move... Heh..' Haru thought with chuckle inwardly

Yakumo appear to be dislike it as her scowl deepened, Haru seems paying more attention to the Hyūga. She about to speak but unfortunately, the projector has done it job

DING!

Everyone turned their faces to the board when the projector spew out the names. Haru freeze when he see the names that came out

* * *

**Hinata Hyūga**

**VS**

**Neji Hyūga**

* * *

'Of all things that went like in Canon... This one also have to?' Haru thought grimly as he grip the balcony slight tight. He notice Hinata eyes also widened and her face freeze, he see fear for moment in there

"Hinata..." Kiba whispered, concern in his voice as he glanced at his teammate "You... Hinata you need to-"

"Keep focus." Haru cut whatever Kiba going to said as he speak aloud to Hinata who turned to him "You're strong Hinata, our training together proof that. Remember, a cat can bring down a eagle with proper strategy." He said sternly

He knew it was useless. Hinata is better than in Canon, it was obvious, she more confident, more stronger due to proper training from him, but she still nowhere near Neji level. Neji is prodigy, even Haru admit that, proof he can become Jōnin in spawn of two years from Genin is more than enough to show his strength

The reason Neji lose to Naruto is because he arrogance and annoying when in fight. If he put down Naruto in instant without talking, it will be over. Add the fact Naruto also have help from Kyuubi that time

But that won't stop him from cheering for her

Hinata frozen face slowly melted, the fear in her eyes gone and her face replaced by determining look, the one that Haru see when she faced Pain in Shippuden

"Hai..." Hinata nodded firmly and Haru smiled

"Go and show him your strength, Hinata." Haru replied

Hinata nodded back, she smile to him and make her face look beauty as she stare at Haru raven eyes with her white eyes. "I will..."

Haru watched as Hinata walk down to the below through stairs, she still nervous he could tell, she using stairs to calm and composed herself

He then feel grip on his shoulder and he see Kiba enraged face

"The Hell you doing?! Don't you know what you just did?!" He snarled

"And what you suggestion?" Haru asked back, his tone is calm "Tell her to surrender? Do you wish for her to be looked weak by him? To be looked down?"

"That's not the point!" Kiba raged, his fang bared to him "Neji will destroy her! He hate her with all passion! He will kill her!"

"No he won't..." Haru replied calmly "He hate her, yes. He will destroy her? No. Destroy mean put something out of existence, turned whatever his face into nothing, not even single piece. He won't destroy her because she can, Hinata strong." He stated with the most convincing tone "Very strong, she won't down, even if her body broken she won't stay down, she won't be destroyed, not by someone like Neji. He may break her but she will arise, trust me, I has spend years with Hinata, I knew what she capable of."

Haru dark raven eyes meet with Kiba slitted eyes, his face set into stern, daring the Inuzuka to challenge his word. The feral boy show surprise and taken back look at Haru declaration. He gritted his fang, clenching Haru shirt tightly before let it go

"If she dead, I will hunt you Haru. I like you, but Hinata is like sister to me." Kiba declared

"She won't be dead..." Haru replied strongly "Not on my watch..." He said coldly as his eyes went down to Hinata and Neji

* * *

"I admit... I'm surprised it come to this, Hinata-sama." Neji said as he stared at Hinata

"I, as well, Neji-niisan." Hinata replied

Neji eyebrow rosed slightly, there no sign of fear in her voice. Her body language also show no nervousness, she look calm and composed, she look like a very different person from the one she see everyday

"Give up Hinata-sama, you knew well you can't beat me." Neji stated

"You are right. You are more experienced, you are more skilled and you are more strong than me. But that doesn't mean I will stop trying." Hinata said, there small fear in her voice, Neji caught it but it only small and barely there "Fate, never set in stone after all."

"You are fool, you know you will lose and yet you still keep going?" Neji scoffed, the reply he got merely Hinata taking her stance to fight. Seeing this Neji face scrunched slightly to distaste "Fine, I won't be responsible for what happen." He said as he taking stance as well

Seeing both participant ready and show no sign to talk anymore, Hayate raise his hand

"The fifth match, Hinata Hyūga versus Neji Hyūga. BEGIN!"

* * *

**Hello all! How you all? Its been a while isn't it? I wish to apologize for that, you see, I still focused with my DxD/Fate crossover XD**

**Truthfully I really enjoy to write that one but I play Naruto recently and reminded of this fic, so I decide to focus on this for a moment**

**As you can see the fight went differently from Canon, of course there will be one who same! There many of you protest things went almost same like Canon, but what you all didn't know, Haru doesn't wish things to change**

**It explained in here, why he wish to change if he already knew all the advantage he get from Canon? No, he don't wish for change, he merely trying to take advantage of what happen**

**There will be big change of course after Tsunade become Hokage, the Shippuden will be affected but for now Haru doesn't wish change because he is safe now, add the fact he still no match against monster like Orochimaru and Akatsuki**

**If he change thing too much it will be dangerous and risky for him**

**And there reason why Haru acting like that in public, few of you probably going to be able tell it in instant I write this note. What you all need to know, currently Haru is in high alert, he just got outsmarted once by Hiruzen and it knock him down, hard.**

**Anyway! This is it for now, I hope you love this chapter! Please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**


	26. Preliminary Exam (II)

**Chapter ****26\. Preliminary Exam. Part two**

* * *

Truthfully I don't know exactly why Neji hate Hinata

I had read all the fanfiction, many of them said because she weak and responsible for his father death that get killed due to replacement for Hinata's.

To be honest, I will call that bullshit

Neji is genius... A prodigy... Perhaps when I read those fanfiction I believe in them because it more easy to accept, but when I live in here, with them, I found that reason utterly stupid and moron

There no way he going to blame her because she can't defend herself when she were child, I mean come on! Even Neji knew Hiashi or his father can't fight Jōnin adult when they were three years old!

Neji is not stupid, he misguided perhaps yes, but he clearly not a moron. If he is then how the hell he master **Kaiten (Revolving Heaven)** only in less than a month?! A technique that Hanabi or her father take few months to complete!

Neji Hyūga is Itachi Uchiha version of Hyūga, I had no doubt about that. But sadly, unlike Itachi, he doesn't have proper trainer and experience due to born in wrong era. Had he born at same age like Itachi, I sure those two will be known very well

My guess is he hate her because she Main House, but there chance it not that. Let me tell you, all things you read in fanfiction about how Hyūga clan abusing Branch member of their family doesn't exist. The Seal not used to slaving the Branch House family, it really used to protect Byakugan

I already gather information from Hinata, the Main House of family not giving seal because they normally not become Shinobi and fighting, only few who become. Most of them run the politic or money of the clan, so they never branded because they not often stand in front line

The Branch House meanwhile is the Main House bodyguard, they are soldier, protector of them, they the one who rose to front line if war happen. They even have head of their house that act as adviser and helper, there even Elders that giving right to vote if something happen, Hiashi himself close to few of branch house

'It not that simple! There no way Main House that generous!'

Sadly, anyone who make comment in that part also right. Despite they treated right but there fear lingering on the heart of the Main House. According to Hinata, in history there incident where Branch House revolting to Main House once, which resulted quarter of Main House family dead

Originally Main House is only the one who handle politic or such thing but due to that event, they trained as well into warrior just in case if something happen. The seal also modified slightly to make sure the incident won't happen again

And thus, the other name of the original seal born, **Tori no Juin (Caged Bird Curse Seal)**. A cage in order to prevent the eagle inside that cage lashed at their creator

According to Hinata who told by her father, there few numbers of Ninja that resent Main House, Neji including one of them

I don't know the details about the family, however despite few members show hostile to each other the head of the Branch House and Main House try their best to make sure there won't be conflict happen

Neji... I guess his hatred is reasonable, his father is used as replacement, he see his father murdered in front of him, and Hiashi instead try to explain it, he treat Neji without any special treatment. My guess he swallowed by his own guilt and shame, probably because his wife and only brother dead and he can't do anything to prevent that

And when Neji try to attack Hinata in past, Hiashi retaliate it with violence by using the seal, thus making his hatred bigger and darker

As I stare down at Hinata who prepared to fight. She can win this actually, if she not hold back and able to caught him in surprise... But she only has one chance... One chance... And to do that she must went with intent to kill...

And knowing Hinata... I doubt she will fight with intent to kill, not when facing against her family...

...

Tsk... Be okay Hinata...

* * *

The moment Hayate said 'began', both Genin rushed to each other, to untrained eyes both of them nothing but a blur. Neji the one who faster, his palm open and extended, aimed to Hinata face

The dark indigo haired girl see this. Neji undoubtedly fast, faster than normal Genin, proof that he dubbed as Strongest Genin by Rock Lee is not for nothing. However for all his prodigy and strength, there one who can rival or surpass him, and Hinata has train with that person for long time, for a years

Quickly, she raise one of her hands, her forearm slammed to the wrist of the incoming attack, denying it from attacking her. She extend her other palm in instant with same intent and aim

However her strike miss as Neji simply cocked back her head slightly before rise her other palm and aim it at Hinata chest. Taking one step back, Hinata pull her body, her arm that blocked Neji first attack swat away his second before she press her feet to the ground slightly and kick it off

Neji twist his body to the side, allowing the palm pass through him, pivoting his leg, he curl one of his palm and extend two fingers, he instantly brough it to Hinata back that open due to she jumped to him before

However, the moment he curl his fist, Hinata quickly twist her body as well, in instant she faced Neji who have his fingers aimed to her and swat it away, she balanced her footstep before launching her other arm, using the force of the ground, she thrust it quickly to Neji chest

Neji eyes that widen in small margin is only sign of his surprise as he barely able to raise his other palm, swatting away Hinata attack. However just when he finish block that attack, another one come

Uchiha and Senju maybe direct descendant from Rikudō Sennin, however Hyūga clan is direct descendant from brother of Rikudō Sennin, Hamura Ōtsutsuki.

The Gentle Fist style of fight is a form of hand to hand combat that inflicts internal damage through attacking the body of their enemy. To do this, the user surgically inject a certain amount of Chakra into the opponent Chakra pathway system, causing damage to surrounding organs due to their proximity to the Chakra circulatory system

Such powerful form, even a simple tap to the chest can kill someone

And this style of fight only possessed by Hyūga clan, only can be used and performed by them. Most people knew how to inject Chakra to someone body, however none of them could inject Chakra to their circulatory system because none of them can see it, they all everywhere, it like trying to insert needle to it hole in plain black colored wall

Byakugan... The all seeing eyes... Those title is not a joke, it not simply a title. The eyes truly can see anything. All Genjutsu proved to be futile in front of it, no people can hide from this eyes no matter how they wish to

Gentle Fist not need for strength, what for strength that capable to break bone and destroy steel if the user can make someone heart explode just by tapping it?

And that power, what make them feared and dubbed as strongest the moment Uchiha Clan extinct. No one dare to fight in close range from them because they can kill you just by one tap

Thus, what happen when Hyūga facing another Hyūga?

It was same like asking fight between two swordman

All depend on how the users skills, experience, strength, defense, and agile. In this battle, it was well known that Neji superior than Hinata, in aspect of power, and experience, Neji surpass her in everything

The battle should be end not long before it start, it was obvious and yet

'I... Being pushed back? By HER?!' Neji thought with mixture of rage and disbelief

It was now very obvious that Neji in hard position somehow. Despite how he supposed to be more superior in strength, and more experienced, but he is the one who in defensive against Hinata assault

It because Hinata fight differently

**_"Listen Hinata, if you one day facing another Hyūga or someone who familiar with Gentle Fist, you will be in problem."_**

Hinata swing her palm, the way she move were clean, swift, it almost like movement of water that flowing in pipe. Strike to above, pull it! Turn it down a little and move it aside! Aim to shoulder!

**_"You have no strength, no offense but woman commonly weaker than man in physical aspect. Add the fact the enemy could be faster than you, more experienced as well. No matter how dangerous Gentle Fist but if your enemy knew how to handle it then you clearly will lose."_**

Neji gritted his teeth, his hand moved above, intent to block the palm that aimed to his chin, only for it tilted suddenly to below to stomach in almost impossible angle! He cursed inwardly as his left hand move and swat it away just in time, however, Hinata other palm already there, thrusted to his right cheek and Neji forced to take step back to dodge it less the Juuken will harm his face

**_"Then how you going to win? Simple, use something that no one expect from Gentle Fist. This thing, is thankfully something you have." Eleven years old Haru grinned to her who blinked_**

**_"I-I do?" Hinata stammered in shock and disbelief. She, outcast and someone who not fit to be Heiress possess something that could handle Gentle Fist?_**

**_"Yes..." Haru nodded, then his face turned to grim "However, I must tell you, it will be painful, this fighting style have risk." He stare at Hinata eyes who filled with determination and smiled "I knew you won't back down, I can see it in your eyes, make no mistake I won't forbid you to use it. I only knew the basic of it but I think it suit you quite well..."_**

'That's fighting style...' Hiruzen mouth open slightly as he recognize the way Hinata fight. It been so long he see that fighting style used! He never thin there will be another person who could use it! Not after the user branded as criminal and traitor

'How...?' Anko thought with shock seeing Hinata assaulting her cousin 'How did she able to use that fighting style?!' She knew that style, she also one of use it, however she rarely use it due to she inherit it from _him_, it hurt her in heart when she use it

That fighting style also only known by few people, all of them is older generation, above her even since the user mostly never seen fight by her generation.

Neji try to make distance, right now he need to pull back, making strategy quick to face her. As much he hate to admit it but he had no choice except retreat for moment. However, when he about to jump back, Hinata leg slipped between his, make his eyes widened

She won't let him escape, not when she got him where she want to! She began to aim at his lower part, strike to the leg then switch it to chest! She move her whole body, crouching in process to assault lower part using her legs and palm, or quickly twist her body to aim at upper when she have chance

Neji gritted his teeth as he barely able to block another strike. This is ridiculous! Since when she become this good?! True she rarely spar in Hyūga estate, however in all that fight she never show fighting style like this!

It was then he finally able to caught one of her hand, Hinata seems flinched when he did this, smirked slightly, Neji pull her, palm raised with intent to slam to her chest.

But when he pull her, Hinata bend down her body

The way she pull that angle is near impossible, Human bone shouldn't be able to bend like that, true few of people able to did it but it because they has accustomed their body with it.

And fortunately Hinata is one of them

She allow her body fall, then she slid her legs, allowing her to slip between Neji legs, by doing this the male Hyūga body pulled down. Having no other choice, he quickly release it. With Byakugan, he can tell he wide open from behind, he quickly twist his body as fast as he could in order to be able to face her

But it too late

The moment he turned around, Hinata both palms extended and thrusted, smacked to his chest with enough strength to hurl him back

Gasp come out from his mouth, followed by small amount of blood. A single tap of Gentle Fist is dangerous, it could break someone organ with proper control. And this one is launched with strong and enough power to push someone, that was clearly dangerous

He manage to hold the pain, using his legs to take few steps back in order to make sure he not fall. Eyes wide with disbelief as he held his chest that hurt, he stare at Hinata with shocked face

How?! How this failure able to hit him?! To wound him like this?!

Hinata who oblivious to his thought, merely take stance once again, eyelid narrowed down to make her Byakugan more menacing before rushing to him again

* * *

"A good hit." I commented with smirk

I won't say it, but I clearly take amusement from Gai, Lee, Kurenai and Kiba shocked expression. While few of people who around me also show disbelief face but make no mistake, those four expression is the best

"H-How?" Kiba stammered with mixture of awe and disbelief as he see the fight

"Neji... Lost?" Lee muttered, his tone also filled with disbelief

Correction, he still not lose, he just got pushed back -quite hard though I must say- but the battle still far from over

"This is the first time I see someone get clean hit to Neji... First time I see someone younger than him..." Gai commented with astonishment "You really train her well Kurenai! I never thought you have talent in taijutsu!" He said with toothy grin

The beauty long haired Jōnin only can shook her head, she still observing Hinata as if she just meet her for first time "No Gai... I don't know about this... During our training, I mostly give them Chakra control and trick about Genjutsu, while I give basic taijutsu but it proved unnecessary seeing my Genin already have their own trainer in their home."

Gai blinked in response, his grin vanish as he scowled "Then how she achieve that style?"

Kurenai in response merely shook her head once again, face scrunched to curiosity and suspicion before she turned to Naruto and Shino "Did you two know about this?"

Judging by surprised face of Naruto and Shino mouth open slightly under his collar -thanks to my height I can see it- it was clear they also show surprise look

Of course they should, I teach this style to Hinata. Though I'm not as good as Bajiquan in this style, but I knew the basic. Living as skipper in my previous life make me learn martial arts, it was necessary if there something happen in boat you know? Though it not save me when bullet pierce my chest and drowned in sea with shark

"Err no..." Naruto answered "I knew Hinata-chan is good, but I never see this one..."

"Same occur to me sensei." Shino said, adjusting his sunglasses "Why? Because I will explain it in instant before you can ask."

"I don't think you will explain it Shino." I snorted "If they asked why you not explain it then you will answer because you never ask..." I said with amusement in my voice

Shino turned to me, his eyebrow quirked slightly and I swear I see he smirking under that collar! "It seems, you know about this Haru." He said nonchalantly, not even make any attempt to deny my previous accusation

I feel everyone eyes turned to me before I shrugged "I'm the one who taught her in that style." I admitted simply "Though I only teach the basic since I can't use that style."

"That quite advanced fighting style..." Gai commented, he now staring at me with new light, Lee also look into me with respect

"I just come up with the idea, heck! I barely able to use the basic since I broke and dislocated my joint in process when I show it to Hinata." I grimaced at the memory, really, that fighting style is big no, no to me.

"Her fighting style quite familiar..." Kakashi muttered, eye narrowed as he look to Hinata "I swear I has seen or read about it somewhere..."

Of course it familiar, there information about it user in all Bingo book. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was him who use this fighting style

Then everyone look at me in expectant manner, I simply blinked and sweatdropped at the stare. Does they really expect me to explain it aloud to them? I'm not type who doing monologue!

"Then what?" Yakumo asked me, it seems she knew I didn't intent to continue to talk

"Do you really ask me to explain someone fighting style? Add the fact that someone is my close friend and all of you possibly going to fight her in future?" I asked back in dull tone

The Genin have decency to look sheepish at that while the Jōnin give me look of approval, mixed with amusement, though Gai and Kurenai also show disappointment and I rolled my eyes

"I doubt Gai-sensei not know about it though, you are Taijutsu specialist aren't you?"

Gai nodded at my word, and I'm not surprise he knew already how the fighting style work "I do, I have my own hypothesis already, though I wish to heard it from you just to confirm it."

I notice it not just him, Kakashi also seems knew already but he not make any attempt to talk, it seems he respect Hinata privacy

Seeing this, everyone turned to Gai with expectant look, the green spandex Jōnin gladly explain it "I notice, the way Hinata fight is unpredictable... It was like she intent to aim to head, but in last moment she twist her hand, maneuver it to chest or other part in instant." His eyes narrowed further as he try to improve his analystic "However to do that... You must have intense flexibility." He turned to me while saying the last part

I only silence under his gaze, in corner of my eyes, I notice Kakashi stiffened, eye widen slightly in realization, it seems he knew who the original user of this style.

Yes, the one who use this fighting style is Orochimaru. I don't know for sure, maybe he not though, but the way Orochimaru fight is he often using his flexibility when he fight close range, there information about him in Bingo Book

And when I read it, I remembered Snake style Martial Art

And when I think about it, oh yeah, Hinata certainly can use this style

"Yes... Flexibility is the key of this style..." I relented, giving little information, my tone was low though so only people around me can hear it "Originally I never intent to teach Hinata fighting style because it dangerous, one wrong move it going to break your bone, I already experience that. But when I see Hinata..."

I turned to Hinata, small smile filled with proud crossed to my face "Trust me, that girl maybe not a flexible like a snake, but she quite one. I notice it when we spar a bit and when I did, I teach her the basic of this fighting style." I said

Among many fanfiction, many stated Hinata is quite flexible and its true, she indeed have flexible body. It was this type of body that make her able to perform **Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō (Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)** in Canon

And damn, Hinata clearly improve this style, the result is currently what I see. During these years, I'm not invincible, there time Naruto and Sasuke manage to beat me, though I beat them back and my score higher. However among Naruto, Sasuke and Shino, none of them able to beat me alone

It was Hinata

Hinata is the first person that I lose to among those four. Call it luck, but lose still lose, she got one of my chest, enough to rupture my lung and knock me down to hospital in instant

Poor girl after that feel so guilty and afraid to use this style when against me due to fear she will kill me in accident, heck! She even try to stop using this style anymore had I not convince her

"But to achieve such level of flexibility..." Gai murmured, eyes wide slightly as he give me wary look

In response, I merely narrowed my eyes back "And what you expect to Gai-sensei? Do you think I kiss all part of her body and said magic word then she turned to flexible like that?" I asked in dry tone. Kakashi giggling in pervert manner while the female and the innocent Genin face blushed slightly

To achieve such level body like Hinata, it wasn't easy. You need to break your bone in process of doing that, and when it mended, you break it again until you sure your body accustomed with the way you fight. True in previous World such things would be called brutal, and in here it also called one, however in my World you can't heal broken bones by a mere days, it take a weeks or months perhaps but in here? It not

Neji maybe have superior experience, strength and endurance. However he doesn't have any experience to facing someone like Hinata. That leave only strength and endurance, which is useless against Hinata who have her limbs act like whip, Neji not possessing strength that capable to break ground like Lee, has he have it, the match would be over. His endurance, is useless in front of Gentle Fist, a simple hit could enough to bring him down

Neji maybe born prodigy and genius, but Hinata is someone who work more hard than him

"Indeed... It seems you and Hinata-san quite hard worker." Gai praised me, he give nod of respect at that

I only give small grin before nodded back, I turned my eyes back to Hinata and my face back to stoic

But there drawback for this fighting style...

This style is dangerous... The original Snake style not supposed to be this flexible, this is improvement that Hinata made. Despite it effectiveness, it eat too many stamina, and it also quite painful the longer you use it... Hinata should finish it with tha one hit, Neji lung should be not function anymore and damaged, making him having hard time to fight.

So how?

How did Neji still able to fight?

...

...

...

...

...

Tsk, Hinata you too kind for your own good... If you not pull back that attack...

* * *

It was like Haru thought, the blow that Hinata give upon Neji should finish the fight. A single nick from Gentle Fist can damage organ, so such powerful attack would be more than enough to damage Neji lung and make him fell, it was solid hit

But it not...

It because Hinata hold back...

She didn't put large amount of Chakra to that attack, she only put small, despite it powerful blow but it only going to damage her lung rather than blow it like original.

And that, Hinata biggest mistake

Had Hinata facing other Hyūga, the battle indeed would be over. However, Neji by any mean is not, he not normal Hyūga

The moment Neji knew he wide open to her, he already make defensive strategy, he control the flow of his Chakra in his body. He maybe not proficient enough to be able to make full Kaiten, not yet, but he can do the basic

The moment he spin his body, he already let Chakra out from tenketsu around his body, creating rough version of Kaiten, allowing them to protect him. And in proceed when Hinata thrust her palms, the Chakra he let out clashed against her, weakening it further

Despite Hinata have advantage in their first clash, and now still have, to one who know how the fighting style work such Haru knew, Hinata in danger. And unfortunately, so do her opponent

His Byakugan able to see it, the way Hinata arms move, the strain it carry and how damaged it is. His eyes able to see it, it wasn't obvious in first place, however in time now it become clear, Hinata movement become slower

And Neji realize this

Slapping one of Hinata palm while countering it with his own, Neji decide to take offensive, he knew he can't defensive forever, now he caught glimpse of how her technique work despite only experience it once, he can handle it

He has underestimated her, but no more

THWACK!

One moment of weakness, one movement that getting slower a little, it probably won't make any difference had she facing any other person. But for somone as skilled as him? That is all he need

The moment he caught one of her arms, his other hand clamp it elbow as well, then he channel his Chakra to his fingers and he crush it

The strength he put is weak, it won't even enough to make simple metal dent. But Gentle Fist is not fighting style that need that. The moment his fingers crush Hinata extended arm, the muscles, tendon, joint and all part of flesh inside her arm crushed

Small scream elicited from Hinata mouth as she feel pain flow through her hand, her body stiffened and her knee buckled down slightly, one eye closed as she grit her teeth to ignore it. She about to move her other hand, but Neji not let her, in quick, he throw her over his shoulder

The girl despite the pain still able to balanced herself in air, albeit it crude, she still about to land on her own feets, glaring at Neji as she held her arm that seems limping

"I admit, Hinata-sama. You are stronger than I thought but..." Neji said as he slowly turn around, facing the Main House Hyūga, his face set into small smug expression "But like I said, you will lose Hinata-sama... It was your Fate the moment you face me." He stated "Last chance, give up Hinata-sama. With one of your arm like that, there no way you can beat me." He gestured to the limping arm while staring at it for moment

Oh he true... She knew it well... Despite she still have one arm, but she knew it mostly over now... It because she held back in her strength, if only she put more Chakra to her blow, it won't be end like this...

It because of she too kind... Just like what happen to Hanabi...

'Am I... Am I really that weak...?' She thought sadly

"Hinata... You are amazing person the way you are. And you must know, no matter how prodigy, no matter how strong I become, you will always be better person than me. Why? Because someone like you is very special in this World. A woman who is able to show compassion and kindness, yet also strong. That is what you are..."

Her mind halted as those words crossed over her mind, her expression curled to small surprise. Slowly, small smile of happiness appear on her face

Noticing this, Neji eyes narrowed. What so funny? Why she smiling?

Slowly, Hinata raise her face, she clamp her limping arm with her other hand and pinching it. She gasped in pain, eyes bulging slightly and she bit her lip, enough to draw blood in order to not scream

Needless to say, Neji who observe it with Byakugan shocked

"You fix your arm like that? Don't you know how stupid it is?" Neji asked in disbelief voice. He already make sure to crush part of her joint and muscle, he already damaged them, changing their shape so they can't work properly by putting pressure to them.

And this girl, instead healing it, she give another pressure to her organ, making it looks like it original shape despite it rough. Oh make no mistake, despite the shape of the organ and joint close to normal and usable, but it will be hurt so much when using it

And she just did that? To fighting battle that already lose? Absurd!

Slowly, the girl taking stance once again, panting while doing that. Her broken arm shaking badly obviously due to pain, but her eyes still sharp, it still show determination, and her Byakugan still active

"Tsk! I had enough of this." Neji stretch his leg, bending down his body slightly and extend both his arms, taking a familiar stance that people knew "This is the end Hinata-sama."

Hinata not even reply him, more precisely, she can't. She need energy to move, and every time she did, her arm hurt, she not speak so she can't scream. Biting her pain down, slowly she also extend her legs, arms spread open despite her right one shaking

Haru who watching this had wide eyes, as medic nin he knew what Hinata just try to did, that already make him flabbergasted like Neji and now she try to pulling this?!

'Oi... Oi... Hinata, with one of your arm like that, you can't posssibly think to...'

Neji teeth gritted further under his mouth, eyes narrowed with small fury but he not make any comment.

**""Jūkenhō... (Gentle Fist Technique)""**

It wasn't only Neji who mutter it, but Hinata as well much to the male Hyūga surprise

**""Hakke Sanjūni Shō! (Gentle Fist Technique : Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms)""**

The distance between them is five meters, for normal person to cover them in one step will be impossible, even adult men can't do that. And yet, they did

The two of them moved at same time. To anyone eyes that not trained, they nothing but blur, they are fast, before blink of eye they already meet in middle. Arms raised, their palms extended, glowing with blue color of Chakra that slither around them like flame in wood

"Two palms!"

Two hands meet with other hands, the target were chest and abdomen. They clashed and blocking each other, creating small ripple of Chakra that become visible and flared for everyone to see

"Four palms!"

The second targets is right and left chest, once again the fingers clashed and creating another wave of Chakra in air

"Eight Palms!"

Neji two hands that launched, blocked by one of Hinata hand, however her right hand that raised easily swat away by him, and in process hit her in side stomach where liver supposed to be, then it moved and smashed to her abdomen.

Blood come out from Hinata mouth, one of her leg take step back, the pain she felt when it crashed to her were quite immense as she struggle to not fell

Neji not even hesitate

"Sixteen palms!"

Eight strikes launched, there no anymore defense, despite Hinata try her best to raise one of her hand but it proved futile as Neji hand went through them, smashing to her body without even flinching or caring to Hinata who cough another blood and take few step backs to not fall

"Hakke Sanjūni Shō!"

A sixteen strikes delivered, faster than all of the previous strike, even trained man will be having hard time to see his hands movement. All of them rained down to Hinata body before one last strike slammed to her chest, it stronger than all the other one as Hinata body hurled away by it strength, crashed to the ground roughly and skidded around one or two feets away before stopped

Seeing this, Neji straighten his posture, the vein that bulging around his eyes receded as he stare down at Hinata

"Its over... I admit I surprise you can perform clean six strikes in that condition but that's it..." Neji said in monotone "If you listen to me in begin with and give up, you won't be hurt like this. Even I avoid most vital organs but right now you won't be able to stand."

Hinata not responded, she only laying in ground weakly, her body not show any sign of movement, the only thing that make everyone aware she still alive is small, and shallow of her body that show she breathing albeit it weak and barely visible

Neji let out small grunt before he turned to Hayate "Proctor, call the match."

Hayate take few steps forward, eyes roamed to Hinata for moment before nodded "The winner of the fifth match, Neji-"

TAP

A voice of palm slapped ground echoed, cutting Hayate declaration from complete. All of people turned to the source of the sound and few people let out gasp at what they seen

It like watching a dead body that rose, her movement slow, hands and legs shaking, wobbled with effort to push herself despite the pain she held, her whole body twitching as if she just electrocuted. A cough, followed by small glob of blood escape from her mouth and splatter to the ground. It was obvious to everyone that she no longer in condition to move, less more fight

And yet, she still stand

Despite her knee buckled, quivering to hold her weight, but she still taking stance, albeit it weak and no longer called fighting stance, but the hand that raised and her pupil that spread like spider web and vein bulge around it, show she still wish to fight, she still not lose

'This... This is ridiculous!' To be honest Haru already suspect thing like this will happen, but when he see it directly, it still amaze him to no end. When he see Hinata and Lee still standing in anime he feel awe and astonishment, though he knew it not real

But when he see it like this

It not awe he feel first... It was rage... Pure rage and followed by mixture of astonished and small proudness

Rage because why?! Why she still stand?! She should lay down! She should stop fighting! He can tolerate if she still willing to try when she still healthy, but now?!

Astonishment and proud due to see she still able to stand. One can tell that even move one of her limbs will be very painful and yet, she not just move her limbs but manage to stand and retaking fighting stanc

'Hinata... You... You...'

It was easy... So easy when he imagine the result and the plan, but when he see it like this...

"Why?!" Neji asked, tone filled with shock and disbelief "Why you still stand?! Lay down! Even now you barely able to move, and yet. Why you still stand?!" He demanded, sweats poured slightly from his face

'Why...? Why..? Indeed...'

Why she still fighting? She is not like her counterpart who wish to prove and change herself. She not meek girl who afraid to her own shadow and barely able to talk without stuttering. In here, Haru make sure she get enough attention and raise her confident, despite she still quite meek and nervous but comparing her to her counterpart is like comparing Hyena and Wolf

Yet... In here, she show the same amount of bravery and spirit much like her counterpart

"Because..." She rasped out, it was barely able to heard, Neji only able to know what she say because he read her lip "... ... ..."

Neji eyes widened slightly as he read what Hinata said. His gaze briefly narrowed to certain direction before flashed back to her, and Byakugan flare to live

"That doesn't make any sense." Neji said with scowl "There no point in acting tough. You're barely able to stand now. I can tell by this eyes that you have carried burden for being Hyūga family for long time..." He shook his head slightly "You cursed your powerlessness, that's why you keep fightiing despite the pain... But you must know, people cannot change." He close his eyes, mind drifted back to his father destiny "This is destiny... You not need to suffer anymore, let it go..."

Hinata who panting, manage to make small and bitter smile, head shaking in negative manner "You know it not right Neji-niisan." Hinata manage to utter out, eyes filled with pity "You also suffer like me..."

"What?" Neji asked, tone filled with confusion

"You are the one who is confused and suffering inside the fate of the Main and Branch families." She answered, the sympathy in her voice was very clear

Neji freeze for moment, body become rigid and Byakugan widen slightly. Then his face confronted to pure cold, teeth bared before he rushed to Hinata with new level of speed

"Neji! The battle already over!" Hayate yelled as he see Neji rushed to her

However Neji not heard it, he too caught by rage that gnawing in his mind, palm glowing once again with power, murderous intent is clear in his eyes

THWACK!

Everyone freeze

It happen so fast that only Hiruzen and ninja at Kakashi caliber can see it.

Neji too, despite his rage able to see it thanks to Byakugan, he knew what happen but it was too fast and he already in middle of the way so he can't stop

Fortunately, the fist stopped few inches from his chest

Standing in front of Neji who few meters away from Hinata, is Haru. His left hand clamped to Neji extended palm, lowering it to halt his move while his right fist extended few inches away from Neji chest

No one spoke... There only utter silence, even Hayate who about to move to stop Neji also paused as everyone stare at Haru. The brown haired boy face lost his always polite expression, his face is blank and hollow, like a doll

"The match is over Hyūga-san... The proctor has declare it." Haru speak, his voice filled with monotone and echoed to the hall that only silence

"Oi..." Kiba muttered with wide eyes "Isn't he..." He glanced at Haru who supposed to stand in there. And he see him, he's there, but suddenly the Haru that stand in balcony slowly fade away like hallucination "The hell?!"

Neji Byakugan glaring hotly to Haru who keep firm grip on his palm, making sure it not move, Haru face still not changed, it still blank as his black raven eyes bore to him.

"Now, I will release your arm, if you try to strike me, trust me the result won't be pretty." There no malice intent or threat in Haru voice, he simply said it in tone that spoke '1 + 1 = 2'. And as if making point, Neji can see through the Byakugan that the Chakra flow in Haru extended fist become more strong and there small, glowing blue aura in there, showing the power it held

Slowly, Haru release his clamp on Neji wrist, allowing the Genin Hyūga to lower his hand, the Chakra on his hand dismissed but his Byakugan still alive as he glare at Haru

In response, Haru merely turned away, not even bothering to cast any further look to him. He approach Hinata who shaking while stand

"Hey..." Haru greeted softly "You did good job... You can rest now..." He said in soothing tone

Hinata eyes focused to him, heavy air come out from her mouth, for moment Haru can see the fire in her eyes still exist, she still willing to fight. But slowly, she lower her stance, her Byakugan dismissed, returning to her white pearl colored eyes again

"R-Really?" She croaked out, voice filled with hope

Haru able to hide his surprise well under charming smile as he give her nod "Yes... Let me take you to medic now..." He doesn't even realize that his voice more like plea rather than asking

Hinata manage to nod back before her whole body slumped forward, Haru instantly take her, one arm extended to lower part of her body and he scoop her in bridal style in instant

Then he turned to the door of medic "The Hell you all doing stupid Medic Nin! Do. You. FUCKING. JOB!" He roared, anger and hatred was very clear in his voice

He watched with satisfaction as the Medic nin group scrambling over and approaching him while stammering apologize, but his face still firm and show no emotion

He aware that Naruto, Sakura, Shino, Kiba and Kurenai approaching him but he doesn't care, his eyes focused to Hinata unconscious form

She look so pale... Paler than original... Her lips also dark blue, lost most of all it blood color. Her breath barely able to seen.

'She not hurt... Not more severe than in Canon, Neji seems not hit her heart, thanks Gods for that... But still...'

The burning flame that blazing in his stomach is something else... For all he talk and boast aboug become tyrant, for once Haru realize he actually have weak stomach...

He watched as the medic nin carry Hinata away, his eyes never leaving from her even when she pass through the door

"You who caused this." Neji speak in silence, eyes bore to Haru back "It because of you, you the one encourage her... You knew she can't win and yet... If you wish to blame someone blame yourself..."

"Bastard!" Naruto growled, anger was visible in his face and for moment his cerulean blue eyes flashed red "You-"

"I didn't believe she will lose." Haru cut whatever Naruto going to said, he still not facing Neji as his eyes still locked to where Hinata carried away "I knew she can win if she wish to, but it seems she didn't... Surely you know that, if she put serious blow to your chest you already lose."

"And yet she didn't..." Neji scoffed simply "Like I said, she too powerless, too weak. She doesn't have heart to become great person. Despite she have advantage, but she still lose, if she truly become strong then I should be the one who lose now." His eyes narrowed slightly "This is only proof that people can't change from their destiny..."

Haru silence for moment was what Neji got. The older Genin let out scoff, obviously thinking there no response come back from him

"Then how about you? You, who were Branch Family, aren't you supposed to protect her who Main Family? It was your duty, your _Destiny_. Yet, here you are hurting her..."

Neji body stiffened, face turned to anger in instant and his Byakugan flared as he glaring at Haru. The boy now already spin his body, allowing him to see half of his face who bore to him with nonchalant look, not even feel threatened slightly

"Hit the nail wasn't I?" Haru asked plainly, his eyebrow raised a bit, before slowly his lip curled. A smirk crossed to his face. It wasn't normal smirk, it not arrogant or filled with amusement

It was smirk that filled with cruelty, one that rapist held when held down his victim, filled with nothing but malicious intent, sadistic glee and mockery toward morality and righteous

An expression that only held by a Monster...

_"Perhaps, the Branch Family really deserve to be caged like a mongrels they are if they barbarian like you."_

"YOU!-" Neji was all but calm as he roared, anger visible in his face, surpassing the one that he held to Hinata. Byakugan instantly flare to alive as he take menacing steps forward to Haru

Haru evil smirk and gleam was very visible to everyone, despite he not make any attempt to move but it was clear he wishing for him to strike. And to everyone who know him better, he will kill him

"Enough!" Hiruzen barked, his voice was strong and very loud, he not look nor heard like old man for moment, eyes sharp and face set into stern expression

Neji freeze from his step, Byakugan still blazing and his posture is someone who about to taking step. But he stop. It as if he turned to frozen. Same thing occur to Haru as his smirk dismissed, his whole body tensed for second before he freeze like statue

There something in the old man voice, no one can hear it perhaps, but to people who know exactly just how capable the old man and knew who he is for years, they knew what just happen

There event when people who in middle of war, and in middle of screaming freeze when they heard or sense something. No matter how they deluded to their fight but their sense still turned on when the thing come upon them

It was fear...

Only a small... So fast and even unseen save for few people... But Haru and Neji has feel as if something just gripped their hearts...

"Both of you..." Hiruzen continued, he still not leaving from where he stand but his eyes switching between Neji and Haru "Will return to balcony now, in instant so the next match can be resumed. If not, then you two will be disqualified from this exam... You two are Ninja who entering exam to become Chūnin, act like one! Use your mind and calm your emotion.." He stated before his eyes turned to other Genins who in arena "Same thing occur to you all, NOW!"

They gone in less than three seconds. All of them instantly jumped and ran to balcony, Haru himself included. Having feeling familiar dread feeling few days ago he did not wish to make Hiruzen more angry to him, not after what happen

Seeing this, Hiruzen give nod and turned to Hayate who barely able to suppress flinch when the old man eyes meet his "Continue the match..."

"R-Right..." Hayate nodded and the projector start to work once again

Haru meanwhile stand in balcony again, eyes blank as he grip the fence on balcony while face set into small smile that not reaching his ear. Part of him mostly afraid to Hiruzen, but those fear also raging against his anger that still burning inside him

Yakumo in instant approaching him, eyes filled with concern "Haru, you-" whatever she going to say freeze on her throat when she notice Haru eyes

The dark colored eyes somehow seems darker, seems colder and more hollow. It as if staring at the abyss itself. She only had seen that eyes once, once when he on Wave mission, when he massacred hundred bandit by himself and not even once feel pity or regret for slaughter that he commit

"Yes?" He asked, his smile not reach his ear, it was polite and cold one

"N-Nothing..." Yakumo quickly replied, she instantly turned away, avoiding his gaze. For some reason, she don't think talking to Haru now is the best thing to do

Kurenai noticing this about to call the boy, but a firm grip from Kakashi to her shoulder make her paused and turn to him.

"Don't..." Kakashi whispered, eye filled with grim light "Trust me, don't try to talk with him. Not until he calmed down..."

Kurenai eyebrow narrowed, she turned to Genma who also give nod, face grim as well. She reluctantly give nod and pull back, she doesn't know what make Kakashi and Genma this wary but she knew Kakashi is someone who quite laid back, if he show serious expression like this then...

Kakashi and Genma share glance to each other after see Kurenai relented. With small nod, they ready themselves to move any moment just in case if Haru went wild in middle of conversation, they had seen how capable and the things he do before and won't take any risk by relaxing in present of potential berserker

Haru merely tilted his head, his smile still there and he give nod then turned his face to projector. The way he did that was slow and smooth, it as if like watching mannequin that moved by puppeteer

All Genins who know about this also try to not paid attention to him. Even Kiba who doesn't know feel there something off as Akamaru whined and whimpering under his hood, telling his master to stay away from Haru for moment, and Kiba did, if there one thing he trust, it is Akamaru sense of danger

The atmosphere and tension in the hall now turned to high. There no any sign that people or relax anymore like before. All of them noted that many Genins start to look to each other, each of them giving wary and defensive look to their future enemies.

'Calm yourself Haru! Do not let rage control you! Stay low. Remember. Stay low. Stay. LOW!' Haru hissed to himself, despite he knew this will happen but his stomach filled with nothing but anger now

That was bad thing seeing right now he already pulling attention... If he fight in this state he will snap and big chance his enemy will be dead, even if it was fellow Konoha ninja

And if he did that, he will make Hiruzen more suspicious and make him to be watched further, add the fact the old man before just blatantly intervened. No. He can't have that, he really need to be subtle now, he already attract quite attention

Easy to say it though...

The projector start to random the names again, all the Genins who watching mostly held their breath, waiting for the machine to set their fate and who they will fight

DING!

* * *

**Kiba Inuzuka**

**VS**

**Gaara**

* * *

Haru inwardly blanched, of all fight that come... He notice that Kiba become pale, Akamaru squirming under his hood clearly in fear

"Proctor! I give up!" Kiba declared in instant and Haru can understand that. The boy had see how brutal Gaara is and any normal person will be afraid after seeing the slaughter he just did in forest

Hayate quirked his eyebrow at this, but he promptly nodded "Very well, the winner of the sixth match by default is Gaara." He declared

The red haired boy who hearing that appear to be didn't care. He only stare at Kiba for moment before turned away, he then seems mutter something to his teammate before he turned and walk away. It seems he has lost interest since he won't be fighting

Inwardly, Haru let out breath of relief. With Gaara out from his way, then he not need to worry anymore. Not like he arrogance or what, but right now only two people who capable to beat him, and they also mostly only have one chance

The first is Kankurou, while Haru confident he can win and knew about him but there his puppet that dangerous. Having poison and if he got hit just once it will be fatal, if there one thing that Suna famous is, it is their poison user, Konoha was lucky to have Tsunade during Shinobi War, had they not, Suna will be the one who victorious in war

The second is Rock Lee. Haru, himself aware despite he stronger than the spandex Genin, the taijutsu user is far superior than him in close range aspect. If he facing him, Haru won't be a fool who fighting hand to hand, he will use Ninjutsu mixed with Genjutsu. Though some part of him wish to test himself against Lee, but he not willing to risk to not becoming Chūnin. Add the fact Lee can open Five of Eight Celestial Gate...

DING!

* * *

**Haru**

**VS**

**Shino Aburame**

* * *

'Oh shit...' Naruto thought with grimace at the match

Haru face set into small grin, well it been a while since he spar with Shino. The last time they figthing is before they turned to Genin and that was three months ago, he still remember the last time they fight, it was quite match actually

It also won't be too bad seeing he also going to able blow some steam, judging by Shino body that shiftened for moment it seems the Aburame also thought the same

Both of them share glance to each other, there silent message the moment their face meet before they nodded. They use the stairs and walk down plainly to the arena without saying any words

Sakura notice Naruto discomfort, the blonde guy eyes roamed to Shino and Haru before turn to the entire hall, it as if he looking for place to hide

"Naruto... You okay?" Sakura asked in concern

"A-Ah?" Naruto turned to her as he snapped from his momentary stupor "Y-Yeah! I-It just..." He grimaced again "Little nervous ya know." He grinnd sheepishly

"Nervous?"

"Well..." Naruto turned his eyes again to the arena where Haru and Shino facing each other "There reason why Haru and Shino not often spar, ttebayo." He shudder slightly as recalling the memory "You know about Aburame clan right Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah... They known as clan that make pact with bugs..." Sakura nodded, she shudder slightly at the bugs part

"Yep..." Naruto nodded back "Shino while can fight in close range but he more proficient from long or use his bugs and..." He gulped slightly "Let just say Haru really take extreme measure when dealing with them..."

While Sakura still look confused, Backup Team sharing each other knowing glance. While Haru not specialist in Ninjutsu but the boy knew quite many actually and he also proficient in Fire elemental, especially Genma who remember when their fight set training ground forest into ash

"He going to destroy everything aren't he?" Genma mutter dryly, knowing where the conversation goes

"This tower strong right?" Naruto asked, tone filled with real fear "I-I mean, it can handle my enemy strong wind attack so..."

"Don't worry, even if giant snake slammed to this tower, it still going to stand." Genma reassured

"Is it really that bad?" Kurenai asked

"Training ground 38..." Genma plainly said

Kurenai eyes bulged slightly, jaw set open as she give look of disbelief to him "You mean it caused by him?"

"Well... There part of mine too, but mostly it him."

Kurenai stared at Haru with new light

"I must say, I never thought I will fight you in here." Haru said while chuckled a bit, there no sign that he angry anymore, it as if what happen few minutes ago never exist

"Indeed Haru... I, surprised as well. Why? Because there eleven fight, the chance you and I will fight is less than ten percent." Shino answered with nod

"Agree." Haru nodded, amusement clear in his face "So... Shall we wreck this place?"

Shino eyebrow. Raise slightly, he adjust his sunglasses "Indeed... It... Been a while since I face enemy like you. Make no mistake, if I go down, it won't be easy." He raise both his hands, arms extended in preparation manner

Then, sounds of buzzing and whizzing echoed in the hall. At first it barely able to heard, the one who doesn't know only shrug it off, but soon it become clear, very clear as it now loud enough

And then a black tiny creature crawling out from Shino sleeves, it only one, but soon the numbers increase, two, three, twenty, hundred, until it become countless. The pack of insect joined, gathering together as if they are pack of sheep that lead by shepherd

"I didn't said begin, yet." Hayate said as he glanced at Shino

"Its okay proctor. I don't mind." Haru defended as his eyes roaming to insects that buzzing threateningly in air. He raise hand, tightened the grip of his forehead protector before slid his hands to his pockets "I'm ready..."

"So do I..."

Hayate glanced at the two Genin, hand still raising before he nodded "The seventh match, Haru versus Shino Aburame. Begin!"

* * *

**Oh yeaah! Another chapter coming up! Mann, this is quite fast huh? Never thought I will able to write this fast again, it been a while since I updated a chapter less than week**

**And yepp! As you can see, Hinata have her own version of fighting in here! And if you catch some Fate/Stay Night reference, yes! I give Hinata Snake style fight that similar like Souichirou Kuzuki! **

**I already think it very clear, while many fanfiction give Hinata water elemental jutsu or poison user due to her flexibility, but most of them never give her the real fighting style. When I see episode where Hinata dancing in waterfall I instantly got idea, Hinata flexibility can be used for her fighting style and viola! You got the result**

**And before you protest, please note that Hinata not stronger than Neji. She able to win, yes but because elemental of surprise. However, Neji called genius is not for nothing, in here you see the moment he able to regain his composure in instant he can bring Hinata down, add the fact he just in time able to control his Chakra and repel her Juuken**

**Neji is genius, there no any exaggeration about that, Hinata can't totally beat him, the bridge between them while shortened but it still quite far. Neji able to create Kaiten just by merely observing with his own perception, without anyone tutoring him, and he also capable to perform Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō (Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms) at his young age**

**By any mean, he is anything but Genin. The only reason he not become Chūnin from exam is probably because Kishimoto doesn't want make him into one since he at that time still categorized as "bad guy", going to make fans angry if he did that**

**And yes, Kiba giving up. What? You expect he going to fight Gaara after what he just see? Kiba is not an idiot, he knew if he outmatched and Gaara clearly scare the hell out of him, even Shino will be give up as well if he fight him**

**If you all wish to know there changes in Shino, Hinata, Naruto and Sasuke fighting style. You all already see Hinata in here, Shino probably will be shown next while Naruto and Sasuke would be later when Final Exam occur**

**Anyway! Next chapter will be Haru fight against Shino and probably end of the Prelminary Exam! I notice it seems I take this match quite long, I probably going to stick few fight with the Canon one**

**By the way, I was thinking to write Harry Potter fanfic. It won't be serious fic seeing I don't have much knowledge about HPverse, a little crack perhaps but with plot of course!**

**The story inspired by Negima, Harry will be genius that become Professor at young age. Yes, he going to teach at Hogwart! And since it inspired by Negima, probably will be crossed with them a little. Harry will be strong, but most Wizards also going to get upgraded as well. We rarely seen battle that could wrecking town and destroy village done by one on one or such things in HPverse and I intent to write one. Of course it will be AU seeing we have small crossover! Harry in here also one year older than his generation**

**This is small trailer about this story, and yes! This can be comprehend as challenge! If you wish to take the idea you can use it! Just ask me first since I will monitor you to read the story!**

* * *

Harry Potter, The Genius Wizard (A better title perhaps?)

Hermione Granger held back sigh as she sit in the Great Hall of Hogwart for welcoming feast. Truthfully she don't know either she should be happy or not to be back at Hogwarts

Bully... For a year, the moment she enter Hogwart, she has been bullied. She don't know what is wrong, but for some reason she don't have friends, an acquaintance? Yes, but friend? No.

Okay, she maybe knew why, perhaps it because she quite smart and always answering most of the question that teacher give. Add the fact she quite strict to follow the rule that set. But surely people understand like? It not like she really crazy about law, it just she feel comfortable with it, when people live under law it mean everyone is seen as equal

And about the answering question, she love book, really, really love it. She knew the question, so why not answer it? Add the fact it also give bonus point to their House!

Well, apparently people think otherwise

Thanks for that, she known as a girl who know-it-all and bookworm. Her status as Muggleborn also not helping, people like Draco Malfoy and most Slytherin always nagging her. And there that prat, Ron Weasley. To be honest that man is just light version of Draco Malfoy, Hermione will said Ron is Gryffindor version of Draco precisely

Okay, maybe Ron not that bad, but still it bad. He quite prat, always make comment to her, she wonder why she trying to help him in first year. If she know it will be like this, she won't bother too. And while Ron is not that bad, but he can become worse than Malfoy sometime

The girls around her age... Rather than talking about studies they all more like talk about boys. Seriously, what so interested about them? They are still twelve for God sake! And there matter of four trolls that somehow able to enter the school! And she with one in bathroom!

God, how she lucky Headmaster Dumbledore were in there just in time to handle the troll. Had he late in few seconds, she will be nothing but mass of blood in wall due to smashed by the troll

Remembering that she still shudder

On one hand, she love Hogwart. She love Magical World precisely. The things that exist in the Magical World is simply irresistible! There so many things, so many knowledge that Magical World have, and they all are more interesting than mundane World

Magical World maybe more... Backward in technology aspect, but they more various. You only meet Human in mundane World but in Magical, there such thing as Goblin, Half-Giant, or other things. She love how Magical World history, she love to reading spell books and trying to master every new spell she came across

She just spend a year in this World and there so many things she still wish to see, if she leave from Magical World, according to law she will have her wand snapped and her magic sealed, then her memories erased

To forget such wonderful World, what kind of idiot wish for that?

No... She only been in here for year, she not going to leave, she won't give up that fast. There will be something different happen, something that make people change and she can enjoy to live in Magical World. There must be!

Though, judging by how this year she sit alone in corner it probably going to same, with bullying and else. She just hope and pray this year won't be though

She briefly roaming her eyes around. She notice everyone eat in quite slow pace since they all chatting and talking to each other, she smile bitterly at this, she quite envy at them to having friend, despite she being surrounded but she can't feels to help she like alone in this table

It was then she notice it, in corner of the wall above, there single raven up there. The raven size is uncommon, it was quite big for normal one. Normal adult raven size commonly is between 54 to 63 centimeters, this one probably 70 to 80, it looks more like eagle rather than raven. The bird leering down at the hall, it head cocked slowly like machine to all direction, each tables of Hogwarts house

Hermione wondered what that bird doing in here and why no one notice it until now. She then briefly glanced to professors table and noted there Gilderoy Lockhart, according to Daily Prophet he will be the one who teach Defense against the Dark Art this years

Last year there rumor that Professor Quirell possessed by spirit or such things, the man gone before the First Year done so Headmaster himself teach them in DADA for a months. Hermione not too care though, the man teaching was awful, though she will feel sorry if something happen to him

Truthfully Hermione found Lockhart book quite amusing, the story about him facing against Banshee is one of her favorites. Not just the man is good looking but he also seems proficient in Dark Art, this one will be doing good job! And probably handle school safety more better!

She broke out from her fantasy, when she remember about safety. She instantly began to wonder about the raven. Yes, she probably the only one who notice because she not chatting with anyone but what about the professors?

As if sensing it being watched, the raven turned to her direction, and for moment she swear the raven looking at her directly rather than her table. It cocked it head slightly to one side in confusion manner, and Hermione realize the bird really staring at her, it dark eyes peering down at her, like an abyss that look to someone

Hermione shuddered, that was not normal animal behavior. Raven symbolized as sadness, loss and even death on some occasion. That wasn't good things, after entering Magical World she won't shrug legend or myth anymore, there must be reason at least why the dark bird symbolized like that

And she didn't intent to find out, not when it related to her

She about to call someone near her, close or not be damned, she have reason to be paranoid after got bullied in her last year.

"Good evening..." Albus Dumbledore voice echoed in jovial tone make Hermione blinked

The bushy haired girl glanced to her surrounding and finally notice everyone has done eating. She surprised, was she observing the raven that long?

Albus smiled at the children of Hogwarts that paid attention to him, his eyes twinkling in jovial as he stare back at them "I would like to welcome you all to another year at Hogwarts!" The aging wizards voice boomed across the hall. "And I would like to welcome those who are just starting to their first year here! I hope that all of you will come to enjoy the wonders and mysteries this school has to offer, and to those who are coming back, I hope that the summer has emptied your head's properly so that it may be filled with more knowledge!"

A small chorus of groans erupted from a few people at the mention of learning more. In particular, the Weasley twins. They were being far more loud in their voiced displeasure about gaining knowledge than anyone else.

Hermione only can shook her head in minor bemusement. Why some people wouldn't want to learn magic was beyond her, doesn't they know how exciting to learn Magic is?

"Before we begin the start-of-term feast, I would like to thank Mister Gilderoy Lockhart for agreeing to take up the position as Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

At his words, Lockhart stood up and gave everyone a gentle wave, a grin, and a wink. A good number of people clapped, mostly muggleborns and female's, Hermione also one one of them, though she did it slowly, her eyes briefly wandering to corner and...

The raven still staring at her!

Now she really, really scared

"However..." Albus voice cut the cheers, silencing them once again "Due to some circumstance, Professor Lockhart will only teach the Fourth Year and above." He paused, letting it sunk down and watching all students reaction, most young female students let out moan of disappointment "Make no mistake though, the one who will teach First to Third year is quite experienced.." He then staring at the corner of wall, eyes focused to the dark bird for moment before he nodded "He quite late since he traveling around the school, however he will arrive..." His eyes twinkling and focused to the Great Hall door "Now."

As if being called, the Great Hall massive door opened, every students leaned to the door direction, wishing to see their new teacher appearance

Not much they can't see though

The figure clad in black colored hooded cape that hide most of it appearance, the cape itself loosened quite a bit and cover any trace of it being male or female. The black cape quite elegance, there mixture of yellow gold that wrapped around few of it parts; around the wrist, ankle and lower part. It height wasn't tall, it only around 5,3 feet, enough to categorize it as short for someone called professor

The figure walk in Hall, there no stiff movement on the way he walk, his breath also shallow, and calm, there no sound in fact come from it. And not just from breath, the way he walk, everyone noted is light, very light and near soundless

A loud caw echoed in hall, gathering everyone attention as they briefly turned their gaze to the dark bird who flap it wings, making it look larger before it dive down, it wing soar in air. Everyone eyes following it and soon it stopped on their new professor that stand in front of professor table, the bird landed on it shoulder

Albus eyes twinkling further, kind smile adorn his face "You quite late."

The figure smiled a bit under it hood, only able to seen by other professors "I'm sorry..." It voice held masculine, yet at same time quite high pitched, it almost like voice of child "But I got lost in the way back when I done visiting Hagrid, thankfully there Morrigan here." He extend one hand and the raven slowly walk to it, the bird let out small caw as if saying 'You bet I am!' To him "That allow me to knew the direction by detecting her..."

"Ah, yes, I understand, Hagrid have quite wonderful tea and pleasant company but he live quite far from here." Albus nodded in understanding before he stare at the raven "Morrigan, how is it? Do you enjoy Hogwarts so far?" He asked

The raven titled her head, then she let out small caw as if agreeing with the headmaster who smiled jovially at the positive response

"Everyone... Meet your new Professor in Defense Against the Dark Art..." Albus resumed, his eyes roamed to the hall once again as the new professor turned to them.

He raise his hand, gripped to the hood before pulling it, letting people see his appearance and they all gasped. The professor, is young, he not even pass his teenager in fact. Wild black hair that like the crow on his left hand, green emerald eyes that resemble color of Killing Curuse under his glasses. He give everyone gentleman smile, if Lockhart smile is charming, this one smile is resemble a child that smile to someone, an innocent smile

"Professor Harry James Potter." Albus finished, all while smiling widely

"Good evening everyone." Harry greeted warmly "My name Harry James Potter, this is Morrigan my familiar." He gestured to the raven before bowed his head slightly "Please take care of us well, I really look forward to teaching you."

Then the hall broke into uproar


	27. Preliminary Exam! (III)

**Chapter 27. Preliminary Exam! (Last Part)**

* * *

The moment Hayate spoke "Begin", Haru already propel back. Feet kicking the ground off with strength that enough to create small crack on the ground as he hurl himself away from Shino

The Aburame bugs at same times soar to him. The buzz and hiss they let out echoed in the air as they spread, like a net, countless of them and launched to Haru like a net that spread by fisher to the sea

Haru press his feet down, digging the ground and skidding, body bended forward slightly and legs spreaded, his eyes sharpened and hands still tucked in his pockets.

Then the air pushed

It wasn't visible, no normal and mundane eyes can see it. But to Jōnin and people who has seen Haru using this style to fight, they knew well what he did

It like air cannon that let loose. Multiple invisible forces appear out of nowhere from Haru's direction and launching toward the group of the bugs that wish to engulf him

A voice of something being crushed echoed in the hall as the bugs hurled backward by the forces, their sickly colored blood dripped to the ground, the numbers of them is not small. Countless of invisible forces slammed to them and continuing toward Shino

However somehow Shino able to see the attacks, or at least detect it as the bugs that surround him began to twirl around him like a storm, protecting the Aburame from harm

Despite having their comrades and friend crushed to pieces, it doesn't stop them. They all keep hurled toward Haru, formed like a massive hand that towering him like giant stare down at little man

Haru cocked back his head, mouth bulged slightly before he spew out sealless jutsu to the hundred of bugs that intent to crush him "**Katon : Endan! (Fire Release : Flame Bullet)**"

A burst of blazing hot flame out from his mouth, it crushed to the massive hand shaped group of the insects and burning them. However the density amount of the bugs that grouped together proved to be thick enough to hold his attack it keep soar down to him with intent to bury him

Haru responded by continue to spew the flame

The blazing red colored flame spread to the 'hand' covering most of them and halting it from move further, sounds of insects buzzing and shriek as they died one by one could be heard by everyone. Using the pending as a chance, he kick the ground away and manage to dodge massive hand that slammed down to where he stand

However, just when he landed from his jump a pack of another insects already waiting for him, buzzing in air in threatening manner and intent to swallow him whole

Pivoting his leg, Haru press the ground beneath him before kick it off as strong as he could, launching himself to the air with fast. He instantly flipped his body and his legs glued to the top of the hall in instant

He glared down at Shino who command his bugs to strike him the moment he landed above. The group of bugs numbers is enormous, as far he recall Shino insects in Preliminary not supposed to be this many! Where the heck all of them come from?! Didn't he just finish second exam?!

He take small deep breath, eyes sharpened before he taking stance with hand still tucked on his pocket once again, his mouth bulged once again before he shot down another wave of flame from it

The blazing flame ball this time bigger than normal, however suddenly another invisible forces slammed behind it and turned the single fire ball into numerous and small one that rain down to Shino and the group of the bugs

* * *

"What the? What Haru-san did?" Sakura asked as she showed flabbergasted look at the battle "Did he just perform sealless wind jutsu?"

Sealless Jutsu, it not something that can performed easily. There reason why Shinobi and Kunoichi use them and not just spewing out Jutsu like Dragon breathing fire. The purpose of it is to help people to mold their Chakra, the moment they joined their palms, fingers or hands together, the Chakra point or Tenketsu in their body meet, as well the circulatory system.

It give Shinobi and Kunoichi a help to control flow of the Chakra they going to use and channel to their body parts. Some people maybe able to perform Jutsu with only one hand, showing the World they had good control, this normally used by most Jōnin or Tokubetsu Jōnin when they use Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique) during emergency state

However, sealless Jutsu is something else. It not things you can do everyday. Imagine molding Chakra is things like pulling something. You pull a Chakra from it core then start to channel and flow it to you part of body that you wish to use, obviously you will need hands in pulling something, if you strong enough you only need one hand. And if you very good enough, you not need any hand

Mostly only Jōnin who capable to do this or Ninja who specialize in that aspect can d$o that, or you also have very good Chakra control. Even they also mostly only can use C rank Ninjutsu, B rank and above perhaps could be shaped into few hand seal

So it come to surprise for Sakura to see Haru just performing sealless Jutsu, and the numbers of it also quite many

"That's not a Jutsu." Kakashi remarked, his lone eye narrowed slightly. He actually interested to see Haru fight, he only see the boy fight directly once, and he not seen much other than he skilled in close range and have good reflex, able to dodge attack before it launched to him during his berserk in bridge

"It not?" Sakura asked in confusion, she noted that Haku and Yakumo also show surprise expression at the technique Haru display

"It special taijutsu that Haru made when fighting long range fighter." Naruto said, gaining everyone attention "Umm... Haru said this technique look like sword but it not." He explained in rather strange way, he not quite good in explaining thing, mostly there someone who help him

"That not telling us anything Naruto." Sakura replied dryly and the whiskered blonde have decency to look sheepish

"Naruto-kun explanation actually right." Gai commented with nod "But it not descriptive." He added "The way Haru-kun hands move, it similar like sword. Tell me, do you all know Iaido?" A chorus of positive nods from Genin near him is sign they know so he continued "If you perform fast and clean Iaido, you can create sharp wind that able to cut something, and if you strong enough cut down a tree. However, in here, rather than using swords Haru-kun use hands and his pocket as sheath."

"But isn't that difficult?" Sakura asked with shocked look "I can understand if it sword, the material is strong and hard enough to make projectiles wind but a pocket? A fabric is something different!"

"You are right, this style is hard to learn make no mistake. However it effectiveness is no doubt, against a long rang opponent it would be very good, the attack is invisible and it power and speed unknown." Gai answered, his eyes followed Haru that shot countless barrages of blunt wind to the bugs that surround him "There downside of course in this style, it make you unable to fight at close range. But I guess Haru-kun compensate this weakness by using range and numbers." He then put thoughtful face and turned to Naruto "But Haru-kun also good in close range fight right?"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto nodded "Haru can smash giant log or one of tree in this forest with single punch! He very strong!" He boasted, he proud of his brother in all but blood strength. Haru is the first person who defending him openly to the public, he still remember when he got thrown away by some shop owner and shouted at, only for Haru to throw the man face with mud and yelling back at him

"But that is sealless jutsu right?" Sakura asked when she see Haru spew out flame to the massive hand that made from bugs, inwardly she can't help but shudder, no offense, as a girl she dislike them! She prefer seeing dead body than crawled by that much of insects!

"Obviously." Yakumo said with snort, she had seen Haru perform fire Jutsu without hand seal so it not much surprise to her anymore

"That incredible! Haru-kun seems genius person!" Lee commented as his eyes filled with expectation at the young boy, he doesn't know there another genius other than Sasuke Uchiha in generation below him

"You don't know half of it." Genma muttered under his breath, he had facing the boy himself and he had use that style. He make mistake by underestimated him when he got close range and almost had his body crushed by his monstrous strength

But still, right now he observing Haru fight and can't help but frowning slightly. The boy can't keep fight like this, if he face Shino in open area surely it will be good. However, in place that limited like this is not. Add the fact the Aburame boy insects seems more than usual, how does the boy able to produce such numbers of insects is mystery, especially seeing this Preliminary exam is surprise

* * *

Haru launched countless barrages of punches toward the incoming bugs. He make them as strong as possible to crush the insects that threatening to swallow him whole

The insects shrieking and buzzing as they crushed into pulp under his strength. The air pressure that launched is not normal one, not the one that you felt when wind breeze or touch you, no, it was the one that powerful enough to make mark in trees, a wind pressure that capable to snap branches like a twig

Such strength air pressure, to able produce such thing with only nothing but his fist. Genin who not understand did not find it amazing things, however to all Jōnin and others who understand, they all knew this Genin is not normal one, his strength that able to create such air force with only his fist is enough proof for them

But despite those amazing feats, the enemies not stand down. Many of them dead, shrieking and buzzing when their bodies turned to nothing but pulp under of those air force pressure, however it futile

For every dead, two more will come and replace them, the rage they hold when see their comrades fell become inspiration for them instead fear as they charged to the boy with more ferocious and murderous intent

A multiple things that reflected light in air caught Haru attention, they barely able to be seen, even to few Chūnin Proctors in the halls they invisible, their color is black, blending with the swarm of deadly insects that spread toward the space

Yet, Haru able to see them. To see them, is not small feat, even Chūnin will be having hard time to see them in battle like this. But to Haru, seeing them is not problem

For those who possess Doujutsu, Special Eyes, they have superior sight. Even their Eyes not active but their normal vision surpassing normal Shinobi, their eyes never lost their sharpness even when their bodies began to rot and their ages increased

And as Uchiha, that is one of trait Haru possess

The dark projectiles that soar to him slammed by the invisible forces, making them snap and broken, revealing a group of senbons that hided beneath group of bugs that covering them

Haru clicked his tongue in irritation under his breath. Knowing what those senbons carry and how Shino fighting style

Truthfully, in first place Haru confused what he should do to Shino. The bug boy is too quite even for him and despite he still child in that time, the boy more mature than everyone else, though he also more childish at same time

At first place he intent to drop the boy from his 'group', labeling him as loss cause but thanks for Naruto who desperate to have company, that become impossible

So he racked his brain, thinking what he could offer to the boy, to gain his loyalty. Naruto, seeking for companion, for someone who there for him, stay loyal, that wasn't hard. Hinata, she wish to become strong, to be acknowledged, he there when she need him and even teach her new way to fight. Sasuke, he need goal, a target, at same time he also need someone to help him, he there for him, guide him and manipulate him by telling half truth

Those three, actually almost have similar problem. They need company. Someone that will be there when they fall. Haru doesn't have problem with that, it wasn't hard things to do, not with all knowledge he have

But Shino... He different, the boy not lonely, he have family, he have everything that Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto not. He can't offer him a things because the boy is not someone who have problem in begin with

But at the same time, the boy is that, a boy. A child. That's it. And one thing he can give to him is, friendship. Maybe he not close to them like he close to Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke, but it was without doubt he have win over Shino

And when they becoming Genin, in their last spar, Haru give him one advice after his victory

_**"You can't use elemental Ninjutsu, I aware of that because there insects inside you and if you mold them to elemental it will harm them as well. So let just forget about them, let focused to what you can do with that little friends of yours."**_

Haru eyes roamed to the broken senbons, that was close one. Had he not facing senbon users like Haku and Genma once in past, it will hit him.

_**"There countless animals out there, out from Konoha, in this whole planet. Some is good but some is deadly. I believe, among those thousands and uncountable deadly animals, bugs or insects is one of animal that enter top ten deadly category." Haru said as he sit on his friend side**_

_**Shino who laying in ground only can stare at his friend, his body mostly covered by dirt and bruise, a sign that he has beaten and lost, right now he barely able to push himself to sit. Despite his eyes unseen due to his sunglasses but Haru knew the Aburame eyes now demanding explanation to him**_

_**"Why? Simple, they small, tiny, almost invisible to naked eye, but they contain venom that rivaled creature whose surpassing their sizes multiple times. Add the fact their numbers is far larger than Human, if insects have mind and intelligence like us." He explained while making gesture to the corpse of countless bugs that surround him and Shino "I guess we will be the one that ruled by them. With such ability, they will be very good in assas**__**sination or ambush, I suggest you read some medical nin book Shino, I sure it would help you."**_

He still remember that time very well, the time when he give advice to the Aburame boy. Seeing the senbons, the boy obviously study part of anatomy body seeing he using different projectiles now

And after giving that advice, he dare to bet whatever that senbon laced with is not poison, if it one then it won't be normal, it will be very, very dangerous seeing he from Aburame clan. And he don't have wish to taste it, not a bit

It was at that moment all fell to Haru mind as he come to realization. The numbers of the insects, it was so many because Shino prepared. The bug boy knew, he knew there would be Preliminary Exam soon!

How? Simple, his bugs, his insects

Shino must be plant some in one of proctor or ask bugs inside this building to find it out. The boy must be! And after that, he began to make his armies, he make bugs mating and gathering the numbers

Unlike Human, insects grow with fast, one of them can lay three hundred egg in one day and having third of them born in next. That how scary they are actually.

'I actually plan to be subtle, seeing I can't show my ability much but...' Haru inwardly sighed, knowing Shino the boy absolutely will go all out without caring. He should knew how the bug boy never underestimated his opponent, especially him 'I guess, I will go all out.' He remove hands from his pocket, if Shino can goes without caring, then so do him

He stare at the hundreds insects that swarming, buzzing in air and launched themselves to him. He can hear the clicking noise from their sharp fangs that bared against him, despite they small but their numbers that gathered enough to make them larger than any men in the World, making them look like hoard of elephant that raging

He keep calm in front of them, there no sign of fear nor panic in his face. Wordlessly, he moved his hand and performed seals, a clone appear on his side, he not turned to them, the clone knew his purpose already the moment he created. They clap their hands once again, performing hand seals

Truthfully, limited space like this surely would make him having hard time. Shino practically one man army almost like Naruto, place like this will only giving him huge advantage over him

But that, if Haru subtle person. And while true Haru is, but he currently decide not to

"**Katon : Gōryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release : Flame Dragon Bullet Technique)**"

"**Fūton : Daitoppa (Wind Release : Great Breakthrough)**"

A massive amount jet of flame come to alive from his mouth. Roaring and blazing, shaping like a dragon head that come out from volcano. The moment it just half formed, a burst of strong wind pressure jammed to it.

Combining two different elemental attack wasn't easy, not just you have to make sure they molded at same time but the amount of you pull out also have to be careful. One will be act as supportive while the other primary

For example, if someone not careful enough when doing collaboration between fire and wind jutsu, there big chance both of them burned by their own technique the moment their jutsu touch each other. Those who could do collaboration technique mostly already close to each other for quite time since it make them know what kind of person they work with

To everyone here who watching, Haru able to perform this is testimony of his power, his strength, result from eleven years Chakra Control training that nonstop, even when he relaxed or in break never once he stop from train to control his Chakra.

The way the fire and wind combined is so beautiful. The flame licked the space and air, but the moment it just half formed a powerful gust of wind push them, the invisible force allowed itself to be swallowed by the higher degree gas and molded into part of them, it almost like watched oil that engulfed by flame

_And the Hall burn_

* * *

Among dozen or more people in hall, only few who expect it to come. Even some Jōnin and Chūnin who watching as spectator or proctor not expect it

This is Chūnin exam, few Genin perhaps will display ability that can be considered as Chūnin level, some maybe low and few maybe moderate or advanced in one case.

However what just come is not. It not considered as Chūnin material, combining two different elementals is something that can categorized as advanced. And while they could prepared for that, but none of them expect it in second exam

Most Genins let out sounds of surprise when the fire descended from above to the whole hall, they all jumped the moment the blazing orange gas fell down upon them. Few instantly hide behind their Jōnin who stare at the flame with surprise and wide eyes

However, they may be surprised but none of them that shocked. They knew what come upon them, what damage that flame will bring. But theyl remain calm, their face remain composed, none of them had any sign of worry

The pillar, the balcony, the moment the flame descended they glowing. A runic symbol that not visible before blazing to live from middle of them, a light green colored wall spread out from them, crawling to the wall that surround it smoothly akin a water that flow to the sea

The flame that capable to burn down trees and turned the hall into nothing but pile of dirt and ash from it pressure and temperature halted by the barrier that stand tall, covering the balcony and everyone, caging only the arena

"This is..." Naruto stare at the barrier, awe and astonishment clear in his voice

"Why look so surprise?" Genma asked to them "Like I said... This building made from tough stuff." Genma said, smirk adorn his face as he take amusement from the Genins awed face

"You only said this building won't budge when smashed by giant snake." Shikamaru pointed

"Did I?" Genma smirk only widened further "Must be slipped from my mind." He voiced with amusement clear in his tone

* * *

Haru curled his lip, turning into biting motion and snap it close as if he biting some thin wire, cutting off the flame from his mouth. He stare down from above at the damage he caused

The floor that made by special material, enchanted by Fūinjutsu, capable to stand even wrath of any wild animals in the Forest of Death, burned. Scorch marks is everywhere, some part turned to burning stone that resemble magma, the best thing to describe the place current condition is destruction

In middle of the burned floor, a black, thick sphere exist. It size around ten feets, shaped as if protecting something inside it from the torrent of flame that raging moment ago

The black dome slowly twitched before it began to crumble like a wall that fell. But rather than fall to the floor, they all floating, turned to countless black moths that flying around, revealing Shino who panting, there burnt marks on various part of his cloth, his left side of face also burned slightly, showing that despite he shield himself but he not left unharmed

The Aburame stare up at Haru, the Uchiha himself not left unharmed, most part of his cloth also burned, revealing his body that burned, second degree at least. It was only normal that he not left unharmed as well, the flame not just engulf the floor but everything around him, including himself. It purpose to burn all the bugs that possibly near him, ensuring none of them survive

Oh, make no mistake it hurt, Haru right now clearly feel his body in pain. But hurt because burn is not something rare for him, he often burn himself during his element training. Despite the pain he feel, his eyes still sharp, his feet that planted already bend slightly, indicating him ready to jump down once more and continue.

The fight, truly not on Shino side. Despite he have advantages numbers, but this space also give him major disadvantage. Had they fight in forest or such things, the fight will be longer and Shino aware he can have bigger chance to win

But in place that restricted like this? This fight can't go anymore. Even if Haru more injured than him, but the Aburame aware that he can't win against Haru, not when in close range and most of his insects already burned.

"I give up." Shino declared

It was logical decision, he can't continue to fight, if he did he only going to loss more bugs and also can sended to hospital with one of his organ ruptured the moment Haru punch hit him.

Haru merely quirked his eyebrow, but slowly small smile crossed to his face "Well... This isn't fun... Perhaps we can continue in more bigger space?"

"Perhaps Haru... I will need time to gather my colony once again to face you." Shino replied

The barrier that formed around them began to dimmed before they shatter almost like a glass, then dissipated by air and turned to nothing as wind blew them apart. Haru jump down, flipping once in air in process before landed on his two feet, he briefly looking down to himself

"I will need new cloth..." He muttered

Hayate who walking toward them, stopped in front of Haru and raising his hand to him "Winner of the seventh match, Haru!" He declared

* * *

"It wasn't that bad, but you still going to feel the pain. I suggest you didn't do anything in next two days save for resting to make the burnt mark gone completely." The medic nin told me as he retract his hand from me

"Yes sir, thank you." I replied to him, smiling politely while saying that

The medic nin nodded before he stand, he also give me polite smile "Naturally, I would suggest you to stay in here but I sure boy at your age will want to go back to the tower and see the rest of the fight." He chuckled at my sheepish face "You may leave and go back to the hall, but be careful on your way." He said

"Yes." I nodded as I began to stand and wear the shirt that the medic provided for me, thanks for what I did when against Shino I lost my shirt. I also have cream of healing salve rubbed on me to ensure the burnt mark will be gone and let me tell you, it not pleasant sensation! It very, very itchy! Like having group of bugs crawling on your skin! "By the way, do you know where Hinata Hyūga and Sasuke Uchiha rested?"

At my question the medic nin face turned to grim, his eyes filled with some burden "We do our best in here, but those two injuries can't be handled in here. So we move them to the hospital. Hinata Hyūga have her left lung, liver and kidney ruptured, that is not something we can't handle though, the injury only moderate level at least, however her right harm." In here he grimaced a bit "That's different case, the joint between her elbow and arm is crushed beyond our help, we can't use simple medical Ninjutsu to heal her but surgery and we don't have proper tools in here."

I only could stare blankly at the medic nin, there no sign of any emotion but he must be see something in my eyes as he give me pitiful glance before replaced by comforting

"Rest assure, neither her career as Kunoichi, nor her life in danger. It will take time, a weeks or month perhaps but we will able to fix her." He said in reassuring tone "And Sasuke Uchiha, the treatment is handled by Kakashi Hatake, his Jōnin sensei, we doesn't know much other than severe Chakra exhaustion, it will take a week or few days for him to be able to move once more."

I give brief nod at that, closing my eyes to control my emotion for a second before reopen it "I see, I guess that pleasant news. Thank you sir."

"Anytime young man, now off you go, I knew you curious to see the Preliminary result." He said while ushering me to out playfully

I allow small chuckle to escape from my mouth in order to humor him. I give a nod to him before turned to the door and leave

Truthfully, I'm not interested on the fight anymore save for being the result. I already knew all of their ability and how they fight, there not need to wasting time watching them. It would be better if I use this time to train

However, if I did not appear it would raise suspicion, add the fact the others probably worry about me. Especially HMuaku, that girl Servant Complex really on whole different level

I still remember, it take me, Naruto and Sasuke together to assure her that I am safe in our own house so she not need to sleep at same room with me. While she still have self conscious as girl but it overridden by her servant complex, her number one priority is to ensure I stay at her sight

Remind me of that anime... What it called? Fate? Or fake stay/night? I don't remember anymore, whatever it is, it about King Arthur is a girl rather than boy

Thankfully, she wasn't that bad anymore. My training process got hindered recently no thanks for her insisting to stay with me. And there will be one month freedom for us, I sure Sasuke will go with Kakashi, Naruto with Jiraiya, Yakumo probably learn Genjutsu with people in her clan

That leave Haku and me...

...

...

...

Well, I guess I can use this time to ensure Haku loyalty to me. Not bad things though, I also need to talk with Sasuke, probably going to spend time with him as well. I already had plan to make sure he loyal to me

The revelation that he secretly jealous to me like he did to Itachi is good things, it mean right now he see m e just like when he see Itachi who care to him when he still child. However at same time it also bad, this can make him remember those dark time, the time he spend with Itachi and will make him feel insecure to me more

But I already have plan to take care of that, and what that plan is... Is a story for another time

* * *

"To those who have made it to the main matches of the Chūnin Exam's Third Exam, congratulations." Hiruzen said, he smiling kindly while lingering his eyes to each of us

Eleven people

Among twenty three people, eleven come out

I observe people around me. It seems there drastic change happen due to my presence. Where in Canon it supposed to be nine, now become eleven

"I will get to the point immediately seeing you all look tired, we awake you in middle of your sleep after all and make you fight each other, so you all deserve rest." Hiruzen continued, I notice Yakumo look tired, I'm not surprise, her stamina still need work after all "Your main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of you to show off your abilities as your country's representative power. Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month."

"A month?" Naruto asked.

"The one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparations" the Hokage answered.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"In other words, we are going to announce to the feudal lords and head ninja of individual countries that the preliminary matches have ended. And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches. This is also preparation time for you candidates."

"I still don't understand Hokage-sama, please explain further." Lee said politely.

"This time is used so you can know your enemy and yourself better. It is a time to analyze the information you have gathered during the preliminary matches. The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties knew nothing of each other. But, the main matches will not be like that. There are those who have revealed everything to their rivals."

I notice some people eyeing Shikamaru and Gaara. Well, those two pass through Preliminary without fight, Gaara have his opponent surrender before it began while Shikamaru get lucky shot and pass so those two supposedly to be unknown

Though for us, Konoha Genin, Shikamaru ability is not secret anymore

"And for that, we give you all time, one month. Use that time wisely, seek your enemies weakness, train, work hard, improve and prepare yourself. Now, before I send you all go, I want you to take a piece from the box that Anko is holding."

Inwardly I quirked my eyebrow, the method also same like in Canon huh? Well, it quite effective actually, a random, depend on people own luck unlike machine that could be altered. Anko stepped forward, walking forward to each of us. One by one we reached inside of the box and pulled out a slip of paper. When everyone had one, she stepped back and Ibiki spoke.

"Everyone got one?" He said, his voice booming. "Now, tell me what number you got, starting from the left."

Luckily or unluckily, it was me who got first, so I spoke my numbers

"Eleven." I said

"Three."

"Six."

"Four."

"Ten."

"Seven."

"Two."

"Eight."

"One."

"Five."

"Nine."

I freeze when the last person spoke, oh you gotta be kidding me! Of all people I will fight...

Ibiki instantly flip the paper he held, showing who we will fight in future

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki VS Yakumo Kurama**

**Rock Lee VS Neji Hyūga**

**Shikamaru Nara VS Temari**

**Sasuke Uchiha VS Haku Yuki**

**Dosu Kinuta VS Gaara (The Winner VS Haru)**

* * *

Inwardly grimaced, I clench my fist unconsciously and my eyes moved to Gaara who in opposite position of me. The red haired Jinchūriki only stare at the paper, for a second it was as if he didn't care before he slowly turned to me

There no emotion in his blue-green eyes, only blank, it look that man give when he stare at ant that walk crawling in ground. I actually doesn't care about that, however it just a glimpse, barely visible, but I caught it, deep inside that eyes I saw it

A very dark emotion is there, hiding beneath all that hollowness. Like a beast that hide, it waiting until it prey got close before lash out and capture it prey

I put my best calm face and raise hand in greeting manner toward him, along with polite smile. Gaara only blinked his eyes once before turned away from me, much to my relief but I not show it of course, instead I only pout a bit

But still...

Facing a Gaara huh? I guess my luck finally run out, I really need to prepare myself. While I sure I can wound him but defeating him is...

Well, I can... Perhaps I can kill him using elemental of surprise but I won't. I won't depend on it, I really need to prepare myself and stop depending of surprise and luck anymore

And the opponent also not easy... Though I doubt I will fight them since Orochimaru would strike during the last stage...

And here I was thinking I going to fight Lee or Neji perhaps. Never I thought Lee will facing Kankurou, too bad for him he make mistake underestimating Lee and got his head kicked by him

Though I must say it also because we fight in this place, such open and revealing area isn't place that good for Puppet user. I doubt Kankurou going to go back to Suna, he probably staying in here and helping Gaara later

"I have a question." Shikamaru raised his hand and Hiruzen give grunt to him "If its a tournament, that means there's only one winner, right? Does that mea that only one person can become a Chūnin?"

"No, that's not how it is." Hiruzen answered "These main matches will have judges including me, Kazekage, as well as the feudal lords and head ninja from other countries, who will be potential clients."

He continue to explain how becoming Chūnin not just from strength just like in Canon. While he doing this my mind went to Kakashi, right now he probably facing Kabuto

That another thing I need to watch out

There big chance Orochimaru interested on me, and he check my background. If he after Sasuke then he going to look for me too seeing I'm the person that Sasuke has loyalty to

No... It not big chance anymore, but he will come to me, he will after me, I'm sure of that

Though I doubt he will come to me personally but seeing he know how skillful I am due to our direct fight, the person he going to send will be good. One of Oto Four perhaps, possibly he going to send two or three if you include Ukon, or he will send Kabuto himself

This rest for one month... Won't be easy... Perhaps bringing Haku with me won't be so bad after all, just in case if I got caught guard, I already order her to learn medical Ninjutsu seeing she already skilled in killing art so... Right now she probably better than me in medical Ninjutsu aspect

"That is all. We are adjourned until next month."

With that words, the Hokage and the rest of the examiners flicker out from existence using **Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**. The rest of us also leave -not using Shunshin of course, just simple walk away-, only few Genins remain in here, and that is Naruto, Haku and Yakumo

"So we have to went through Forest of the Death again?" Yakumo asked with scowl

"If you wish to stay in here then don't." I chuckled

"Damn, awaking us so early and now leaving us alone..."

"Oh come on Yakumo, it not that big deal, we already went this forest two times."

Yakumo only grumbled under her breath before turning to Naruto "So I going to face you eh? Hmph, don't expect me to go easy on you Naruto."

"Of course I won't!" Naruto snorted "You also expect the same! I going to beat you Yakumo!" He declared while raising fist toward her

"We shall see." Yakumo replied simply while putting smug face "So..." She turned to me "What you going to do for one month?"

"Training of course." I answered in 'duh' tone, make her glower at me "Normally I train by myself, however since I have sensei now, perhaps I going to ask him more about nature transformation."

"I can help you with that Haru-san." Haku said as she staring at me "I learn about nature transformation a lot from Zabuza-sama during my time with him."

"Perhaps... But I still going to go ask him later, no offense Haku but I did this so our sensei also work."

Its true, I knew Genma also realize it, I doesn't need teacher, I'm not a Genin after all, he becoming my teacher is only formality. Same thing occur to Haku, he only need to work with Yakumo. True I did ask him some tips about Chakra control or Ninjutsu, but he never make any attempt to teach me, he only point it and telling me what to do

I didn't have any problem for that truthfully, it giving me more space

However that doesn't make the bastard not enjoying it. That guy probably having so much joy torturing us in D-rank mission. He also probably the one who start rumor about me and Yakumo. And for that, I going to repay it by give him headache as much as I could!

"How about you Naruto?" I asked

"Well, I going to ask Kakashi-sensei of course! He's a dick but he knew what to do! Ttebayo!" Naruto said while grinning make me snorted inwardly at his description

"Language Naruto!" I chided, though I make it clear that I'm amused by his word by smiling a bit "He still your teacher so at least give proper respect."

"But its the truth! Ttebayo!" Naruto whined, arms expanded in exasperated manner "He's completely dick! I mean, he totally slave driver! He tell Sakura-chan and Teme to run around Konoha in ten minutes! Then if they not reach it, he going to sick his dogs at them! Do you know the size of his dog?! One of them even bigger than him! And he also told me to stand in water while sticking a p-pictures of n-naked woman around my body!"

Naruto face turned to crimson when saying about his training, clearly embarrassed by the event. I only can sweatdropped at that, I don't know how Kakashi in Canon work, some fanfiction only display him as lazy and stupid teacher, either that's false or true it doesn't matter, in here he clearly not lazy around.

He really train them, true all he give mostly is basic, but they all useful. If I make assumption, perhaps he make Sasuke and Sakura ran to raise their stamina while Naruto... He make sure Naruto can control his massive Chakra properly while under pressure, showing him pictures of naked woman so Naruto can keep focusing

Or, he only sick bastard who enjoying boy and girl get their ass bited by a dogs and a pervert who enjoy showing naked picture to a underage boy

Sadly, for some reason I believe he is both of them

"Well, all training aside, I want to see how Sasuke and Hinata now." I said with concern in my voice, though I knew they actually fine

"Good idea. I also want to see how Teme and Hinata-chan doing. I will go with you Haru!" Naruto agreed with me

We turned to Haku and Yakumo who talking to each other, I caught something about train together, hmm perhaps Yakumo ask advice to Haku seeing the ice Kunoichi has experience fighting Naruto in past

Noticing our looks, both of them turned to us

"What?" Yakumo asked

"We plan to go to hospital to visit Sasuke and Hinata, what you two want to do?" I asked back

"I will go with you Haru-san." Haku answered instantly

Yakumo face set into scowl for moment before it replaced by calm look "Well... I need to inform my family first about this news, I guess I will go home instead, but we can go out from this forest together."

"Of course."

"Well then!" Naruto grinned to us happily "Let's go! Sakura-chan waiting us outside!"

* * *

"So... How it goes, Kabuto?"

"Sorry to said this, but I fail. Hatake Kakashi himself is the one who guard Sasuke-kun."

"... I see, I knew it would be like this. Oh, well, doesn't matter, it still too early after all, fu, fu, fu."

"So we leave Sasuke-kun alone? Then what about Naruto-kun and that Haru boy?"

Orochimaru paused at that. The Uzumaki boy, he is nuisance to his plan for Sasuke. To think Sasuke will throw away his life just to protect him, the Uchiha knew he can't win against him and yet, knowing that he still do. To show such naïvety...

No... It wasn't Uzumaki boy actually, true there part of his bond that make Sasuke jump to face him, but the problem itself is actually Sasuke

The boy... Is not like what he expect... Not at all

He expect the boy to be dark, to have his brain filled with revenge toward Itachi, focused on his goal as avenger to avenge his family that murdered by Itachi. But to his surprise, Sasuke is not, true the boy hate Itachi, he remember when he mention the name of elder Uchiha and Sasuke face turned to dark, but the sheer amount of hatred he display not large enough

It more like hatred for stealing something, something precious, but it still could be returned, that's the level of his hatred is

Still, the boy heart is not that soft, there dark emotion hide beneath it, despite he quite mellow but he still avenger in heart, Orochimaru knew with few push the boy will completely turned dark

However, that can't happen... Not when the boy, named Haru still alive

He still doesn't know much, but according to information he get, the boy and the Uzumaki live in one house with Sasuke. If its true then it best to assume that the boy is close to Sasuke just like the Uzumaki's

But unlike the Jinchūriki, the boy is strong, undoubtedly talented as well. They brief fight show the boy is good, very good perhaps, such talent remind him of himself when he at the boy age

"For now, let the Jinchūriki go. We will see further about him in future. However, the other boy..." He smirked slightly, golden eyes gleamed with something that undecipherable "Tell people to keep an eye on him Kabuto..."

Kabuto not showing any emotion, years of act as spy make him able to keep his emotion in check. There only clamness in his face as he adjust up his glasses up "If you say so Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru merely smirked further at the man obidience, letting his arms down, he began to walk away. However just when he reach the door, he turned to Kabuto once more "Oh, and Kabuto. There will be one month before the main Exam being held. During that time, accident... May be happen." He spoke silkily

Kabuto eyes that blinked once is only sign of understanding what his Lord mean, and while inwardly surprise a bit but he not let it shown to his face. He give slow but firm nod hearing that, make the pale skinned man smirked further

"I want him alive..." Orochimaru spoke smoothly, his voice contain nothing but amusement rather than order

"I understand Orochimaru-sama, I will contact some man to handle it.". Kabuto replied while nodding

Orochimaru allow small chuckle escape his lip before he open the door, he take one step to outside but stopped just when he about to close the door, he give one last look over his shoulder to the silver haired spy

"And be careful, this one is predator, treat him like one." He said aloud before closing the door, leaving his servant surprised

He inwardly chuckled in amusement at Kabuto surprised look. Briefly, image of the boy that fighting him in Forest few days ago flashed in his mind. The boy knew he can't defeat him, it was clear, he even declare it aloud

Normally Orochimaru only going to shrug it as idiotic man who throw away his life for other, however during their fight, the boy not fighting as if he going to die. No, the boy knew he will life, he will survive through their match, no matter how ridiculous it is, the boy believe-no. The boy sure, a hundred percent sure that he will come out as survivor somehow

Even when fighting against him, HIM! The Snake Sannin, the one who dubbed as S-rank Missing Nin and feared by all Ninja, praised to be killer among killers, one of the living legend that live in the World, feared by his peers

The boy not just bravely charge against him knowing who he is, but he believe he will survive, he will live through it, it wasn't normal believe, but a believe that fanatics held when they praise their Gods

"It seems..." Orochimaru lips curled to cruel smirk, his voice echoed in the dark hall that only brighten by candle along the path "Another has born under Sarutobi-sensei nose." He chuckled, it sounds so cruel, eerie, and also cold, hold nothing but malice intention "I wonder, what would Sensei do to this one?" He wondered aloud, gold eyes peering into the darkness with each step he take "Will God able to guide him into proper Hero he is? Or he will born into another Monster? Khu, khu, khu. Whatever it is...

_"I will be there to watch the result."_

Sadly for Orochimaru, he will never be there to see it, in future he will realize that the nature of Haru already clear the moment he enter this World, no one realize it or be there to see him

Not even Haru himself

Only one person who see it, but the person soon will be dead in next month before anyone can find him/her

* * *

**Hello everyone! Before I make my usual note, I want to say**

**\\(´v****`)/ MERRY CHRISTMAS! \\(´v****`)/**

**May Joy and Christmas Magic be with You and Your Family!**

**Ho ~ Ho ~ Ho ~**

**Ehem! Now that is done, I hope you all love this new chapter. I plan to write epic battle between Shino and Haru, however I notice the place and the area they fight is not suited for their style of fight**

**As you all can see, in here Shino got nerfed, but I didn't show it much since the place they fight not supporting him, but you got the point anyway**

**And you all see how Haru behave, I notice few of you notice Haru weakness and I must say I happy to see it. I did that actually on purpose, to show the meaning of character. You can't expect Haru to become a Monster in instant, despite he had train himself but his personality is still considered Humane, compared to other Monster Haru is only a small existence**

**However, not need to worry all of you, there something that called "growing" to solve that problem. Right now Haru in process of his growth**

**What he will be in future, a Hero or a Monster? That would be seen later, make no mistake though Haru will be someone to be reckoned with**

**There will be major change come after Chūnin Exam arc, I assure you of that. Anyway, this is it for now, I hope you love this chapter! Please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD **

**Btw, I write new story about Harry Potter, please read it if you like HP story! I a****l******so looking for Beta for thi**********s **************story, if you intere******************ste**********************d**, then plea**********************se info me**!********  
**


	28. To be a Something

**Chapter ****27.** **To be a Something**

* * *

"What you mean by we can't visit Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled in outrage at the staff lady in front of desk

I smack his head of course, yelling like that clearly pull everyone attention to us. I don't care if the lady actually have some hatred to Naruto for his status as Jinchūriki, it doesn't give him right to be rude, add the fact he shouting in hospital, a place where people resting

"Be polite Naruto. Let the lady explain first." I said with scowl

Naruto frowned back at me but nonetheless, he still lower his head and mutter apology to the receptionist

I turned to the lady and smile politely at her "May I know why we can't visit Sasuke?" I asked

"Well..." The lady give me polite face as well in return, though her eyes glancing to Naruto with disdain for moment "Sasuke-sama right now can't have visitor since he still being stabilized, there strict order to make sure he left alone as well."

Order to left alone? Ah... It must be for his own safety, after Kabuto breaking through security and ANBU that guard him easily, the guard that surround Sasuke must be multipled now

"Order?" Naruto asked with scowl and curiosity

"I don't know the details, his Jōnin sensei, Kakashi Hatake come up and bring the document to us and that's it." She answered simply

Hearing Kakashi name Naruto frown gone, replaced by resigned expression as his shoulder slumped slightly like puppy that just rejected

"This is suck!" Naruto pouted

"Maa, Naruto don't be so loud, this is hospital."

A familiar voice make us turned to the corridor, we see certain masked Jōnin walking toward us, his posture and demeanor seems nonchalant as usual

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called aloud, ignoring what he just said which prompt me to smack him in head playfully again

"Keep your voice down!"

"Sorry!"

Kakashi only eye smiled to us, I don't know how he able to curl his eye into that line, must be done it for long time

"Hatake-san." Haku bowed politely to him and I also offer small bow

"Hello Kakashi-san." I greeted as well

"Hello Haku, Haru, I see you two also come to visit Sasuke." Kakashi replied to us

"And Hinata too." I added

"Ah, yes, Hinata-san too." Kakashi nodded "Well, sadly for you three, Sasuke can't be disturbed now, what caused it is classified for now." His lone eye glanced toward each of us, judging our expression, Haku and I not show any sign of disturbed but Naruto did as his frown returned "I hope you all can respect his privacy, there something people cannot share, give him time." He continued

"We understand, well..." I give look to Naruto who nodded with relented face that mixed with worry "I guess we will visit Hinata then..."

"Ah, yes, for that. I believe, I had meet Hiashi-sama on my way before, visiting Hinata-san as well."

Huh? Hiashi already here? The sun just rise few minutes ago! That was fast, how he arrive here so soon? Someone told him perhaps but who? Doesn't matter though, it not like I care about him

"And he ask me if I see you, Haru, to tell you that he wish to talk with you."

Now _that_, what is matter

"Talk with me?" I repeated while blinking like an owl

"Yes." Kakashi nodded "He didn't tell me what he want to say, but I guess you already know."

Oh, I knew. I knew already, I already predict thing like this would happen after all. It must be about Hinata, if I recall there episode where he, his father, and Hanabi visit Hinata in hospital

"I take it he wish to talk with me alone?" I asked with matter of fact tone

Kakashi nodded, his eye still looking bored like usual and I inwardly sighed

"It not like I have any choice." I muttered "He still in Hinata room I take it?"

"Yes, she on room 214."

I give small thankful nod to him before turned to Naruto and Haku "You two stay here for moment okay? I will return or send you message when I'm done talking with Hyūga-sama."

Haku give small nod at that, her face no show any emotion save for the polite and kind smile she always wear. Naruto meanwhile frown a bit, he seems dislike it but he not make any attempt to protest

I began to walk to direction of Hinata's room. There many hospital in Konoha actually, a six or ten if I recall, however the one that I currently in is one of the biggest. The hospital system in here is unlike in our World -not that I know about them much-, in here there mutlitple different Hospital, each of them treating different wound and injuries, from the light one to severe

Of course there will be emergency treatment if the patient that severely wounded close to nearby Hospital that treat light injuries, however the one that treat severe injuries is open only to the one who dying or such things

Finally, I arrive in front of Hinata room, raising my hand I knock it twice and waiting for response. It wasn't that long as I heard familiar voice come through the door

"Who is it?"

"Its me, Haru, Hyūga-sama." I responded to him

There silence for moment before the voice replied

"Come in."

I open the door, muttering small 'excuse me', I enter the room and granted by sight of Hiashi, Hanabi, a Hyūga in maid uniform with green hair -Natsu if I recall her name-, and also Hiashi's father

"Hyūga-sama." I bowed to Hiashi and his father in greeting manner

Hiashi in response give me small nod of greeting, his father only silence and staring at me with what I call Hyūga-stoic face. Turned to Hanabi, I allow small smile grace my face and nod to her

"Ojou-sama." I greeted in barely restrained jovial tone

Hanabi seems noticing my tone as her right eye twitched a bit, though her face remain stoic like 'proper' Hyūga. I snickered inwardly, dealing with children always bring amusement to me

"Morning Haru-san, I take it you pass the second exam?" Hiashi asked in stoic tone

"I am." I admitted, my voice also sounded calm like him

"Then I suppose I must say congratulation, entering to main stage of Chūnin exam in your first try is not something easy after all." Hiashi complimented

"Thank you Hyūga-sama." I replied before I glanced at Hinata, she awake obviously, I can see her eyes opened but perhaps she still can't sit properly "Though, I also wish to said congratulate to Hinata."

"Congratulate?" Hiashi's father asked, voice fileld with disbelief

"Yes, she fight against older, stronger, and more experienced opponent, and able to land severe hit to him." I said and its true, Neji left lung is damaged make no mistake it not fatal but it quite wound, he also treated to hospital after his battle with Hinata done "And she will able to win, had she not facing her family. Her strike will resulted in instant death."

While Hiashi's father showed disbelief face -he able to hide it but I able to caught glimpse of it-, Hiashi himself have small smile crossed to his face but only for moment before it replaced by his usual stoicism face, Hanabi also stare at Hinata with new light

"I see... And how you can tell this?" Hiashi asked

"Hinata palm that hit Neji is loud and visible enough for everyone in the hall." I answered, I allow small smile grace my face "And if Neji is as good as the rumor I heard about him, then congratulation clearly in order, the reason Neji only win is because Hinata allow him to."

"H-Haru-kun." Hinata stammered, her voice taking very soft tone

"Don't be modest Hinata, you knew it as well that the truth." I chuckled a bit "I already request the record of your fight to Kami-sama, I will give it to you as soon I get it."

I see Hiashi's father muttered 'Kami-sama?' under his breath and inwardly snicker at his confusion

"Indeed..." Hiashi cut whatever Hinata going to response "I, also wish to see the fight by myself." He stared at me with some look "Do you mind if I asked Hokage-sama to give the recording to me first?"

"I don't mind, take it if you wish to Hyūga-sama, I really intent to give it to Hinata in first place."

Hiashi nodded at me, face still set into stony expression "Very well then, if I may, there something I wish to talk with you."

"Of course Hyūga-sama." I replied, I give small nod to Hiashi's father and smile to Hanabi before take one step back and turned away, leaving from the room

As soon I step outside the room, I waited for Hiashi to come out, ten or twenty seconds later he come out. He make gesture with his head to follow him and began to walk, I wordlessly follow him from behind

We keep walking in silence for few minutes before we arrive in some open place in hospital, briefly I let my sensor ability to spread, sending pulse of Chakra to surround me and I found none response to it, which mean we alone now

Hiashi turned to me, his arms still crossed to the sleeves under his formal kimono "How Hinata doing actually?"

"She's good, very good Hyūga-sam- Hiashi-sama." I corrected myself when see Hiashi eyebrow quirked a bit "Like I said, she got Neji, a solid hit from two palms to his left chest."

"I take it my daughter not hit with intent to kill?"

"With all respect Hiashi-sama, if that was sparring match in your clan then I sure the referee will declare Hinata as winner."

Hiashi and I stare at each other, pearl white orbs meet with night black's. There no emotion in his face and I also put my best stoic look, not willing to show any weakness

After a moment, Hiashi allow himself to pull back as he close his eyes in resignation "This, is what I mean Haru-san, Hinata is too kind for her own good."

"She facing family member Hiashi-sama." I retorted calmly "If she facing one of Suna Shinobi or other Genin, I doubt she will hold back." I quirked my eyebrow slightly "I don't know much about Hyūga family, but surely you won't encourage Hinata to puncture your own nephew lung."

I knew I got him, despite Hiashi not show any sign of defeat but I got him. The first time I meet Hiashi I expect he maybe going to be asshole like many fanfiction portray him, albeit not to extreme level, however he not. He strict and stern, a little asshole but he have heart at least

And he care to his brother, there no way he want Neji, his legacy to have his lung ruptured by his own daughter, he not that cruel

Not to his own family at least

"I guess you right in that part." Hiashi said, face turned away from me and staring at the plain white wall of hospital "But people may think otherwise."

"They will..." I agreed firmly, making him narrow one of his eyes to me, he seems surprised I agree that instant "However, there other people who agree with this, Kami-sama for once will be." I said softly

The meaning was direct and blunt, Hiruzen Sarutobi will agree with this, Hiruzen Sarutobi who dubbed as God of Shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi who has lead Konoha through two Great Shinobi War and not just come out alive but also win

Only a moron beyond any help who will dare to call man such caliber idiot or fool, if Hiruzen agree with this, then this is the right thing

In Konoha at least

Hiashi one eye still glance at me as I finish, there no sign of emotion that I able to decipher from him. Slowly, he close his eyes and turned to me fully before reopen them

"You are very wise for someone at your age Haru-san."

"Thank you Hiashi-sama." I responded with chuckle "Living with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha will make you grown fast."

"The Jinchūriki and Last Uchiha." Hiashi nodded, he not show any sign to be subtle at calling Naruto status, he must be know that I already aware of Naruto status

"A miracle will happen if they not arguing once per day." I said dryly and its true, no matter how I try to, Naruto and Sasuke always, and always bickering! Never in one day they not went to each other throat!

Those two really like Tom &amp; Jerry, always fighting against each other every single day! Seriously! In previous life I used to think perhaps Kishimoto use it as comedic scene! And I really found it funny, but when its me who there to separate them from each other throat... *sigh*

"I never asked this, I heard about it from rumor but I wish to make sure of it." Hiashi glanced at me "Is it true you lost your memories when you young?"

Ah... So it about that...

"Yes... Yes I am.." I admitted "It was when I two years old... One day, I awake in orphanage and not remember anything..." I paused, face turned away and stare at the plain white wall "But there something strange... I still remember it until now..." My eyes turned to dazed "When I awake that time... Everything become so... Clear... It as if I dreaming in my whole life and I just... Boom." I make small noise while doing that

"A dream?" Hiashi inquired

"Yeah... I feel I can think more clear, understand things more easy or like that." I shrugged, my eyes regaining their light as I turn to Hiashi "When I was little, I found child my age is annoying and stupid, so I stop talking with them... Until I see Naruto... Let just say the way he isolated pique my interest and curiosity, so I decide to stay with him and study everything around him.

"Then I come to one decision, people hate him, not just him, even all children. Every children who be friend with Naruto told to stay away from him, and if they persistent to stay, they will found some... Older kids approaching to bully them."

Hiashi eyebrow quirked hearing that, his eyes gaining some interest light "I take it you experience this personally?"

"Yeah." I admitted, I still remember when I'm six years old, some seven or eight years old brat approach me. I beat him down of course "I can handle the children, they only few years older than me so it not problem. However there time when one of those children call their older siblings who already Genin."

"And?" Hiashi continued, he seems interested

"I break his arm." I said blandly

Hiashi blinked his eyes once

"What?"

"The Genin, I break his arm. Of course I got nasty wound but I stomp his elbow hard enough to make sure it bend to wrong way."

And I did, I remember that older boy try to beat me down and he did succeed. Please noted that time I only a brat, and that kid is a Genin, despite my Chakra control training but I still doesn't have fighting experience that much

Of course, things get worse to him when he underestimated me. A sweep kick, then stomp to palm and to elbow five times enough to ensure his whole arm crushed, no Ninjutsu for him and viola!

I beat the living out of him

"And Hokage-sama allow this?"

"Of course no, I got scolded and punished, but when he heard that Genin try to harm me, a civilian, well, let just say scrubbing Ninja Academy toilet for a day is worthy." I chuckled as I recall the memory, remembering that Genin have to clean Inuzuka dog places is good enough, let me tell you, the Inuzuka dogs shit is worse than normal dog, perhaps because they eat different food due to their status as Nin-ken

"I... See..." Hiashi sounded unsure as he stare at me with blank look "That was interesting story Haru-san." He nodded before clearing his throat "Anyway, I think we had spend time long enough, you wish to see Hinata condition I assume?"

"Yes."

"Very well, let's go back..." He said as he began to walk once again and I follow him, however just when he take few steps forward he stopped

"Hiashi-sama?"

"... Thank you Haru-san, for caring to Hinata."

"... ... ... Don't mention it Hiashi-sama."

* * *

"How you doing Hinata?" I asked with concern look

"I-I'm fine H-Haru-kun." Hinata smiled to me, pink hue adorn her face slightly

"Are you sure? I mean, does your arm still hurt? I can call the doctor again if you wish to."

"N-No, I-I'm fine."

"Then how about the bed? Is it comfortable enough?"

"Y-Yes."

"Okay, how about your throat? Is it dry or something? Do you want water?"

"H-Haru-kun-"

"You hungry? I can buy food from outside, no offense but we knew food hospital is-"

"Haru-sama..." Haku called me, voice sounded amused and troubled at same time as she add -sama suffix to my name like first time she serve me "Hinata-sama is fine, you not need to be that worry." She lectured me

"I'm not worried!" I exclaimed while scowling at the ice user kunoichi "What I ask is proper question in Hospital!" Its true! Asking bed, food, drink, and her condition is what nurse mostly asked to the patient when they treat them!

"Uh-huh, yes, I knew that Haru-sama, I work with medic nin in here." Haku replied, voice laced with amusement "But a proper nurse only asked their patient once, not every five minutes." She said in exasperated tone

I blushed slightly while Hinata giggling with amusement at Haku words. On my defense, Hinata just got her organs punctured and one of joint in her arm crushed like a pulp then reshaped back like some kind of clay! I have every right to worry!

"H-Haru-kun, y-you not need to b-be that worry, I'm really fine." Hinata said in reassuring tone

"Okay then." I grumbled in defeated tone as I slumped a bit

"See? Hinata-sama is fine, so you not need to ask it once again in next five minute." Haku told me, and as if proving what she said, she give small tug to Hinata shoulder playfully who smiled at her

"Haku! You supposed to be on my side, aren't you my servant?!" I whined to her

"Servant? Didn't you said I suppose to treat you as my friend Haru-san?" Haku asked innocently while tilted her head to one side and blinking like five years old child

I try my best to give her scary look and scowl, but it must be come out as wrong expression as Hinata giggle become louder while Haku smile get widen

What? You surprise I can play a joke? I can't always be adult you know, I dealing with Naruto and Sasuke for a years! There no way in hell proper adult can stay with them for that long and stay sane!

"I'm glad my misery amuse you all." I said in sarcasm, shaking my head slightly "But in all seriousness, Hinata I really worry you know." My sudden change of tone must be surprise as I see Hinata seems taken back "When I see you from upside... I..." I feel my throat become dry for unknown reason

What I feel that time... Is pure anger... There nothing else to say, I admit it even clouded my mind. And while I knew it reasonable for me to get angry to Neji, part of my mind screamed at myself

I can prevent such thing to happen in first place if I wish to... A few words to Neji and trading punches in early age and viola, Hinata won't be hurt this bad

But that not troubled me... No... It was the sense of morality I have...

First time I arrive in this World, I treat all people in here as not Human, they all only a thing, a doll, a fake Human, a character from fictions World. I play them like a puppet, fake smile to them, throwing sweet and honey words to everyone

And I have no problem doing that

I really am, I didn't even care about it a bit

But lately... Lately... I... I become soft...

"Haru-kun..." Hinata voice break me out from my stupor, her face surprisingly calm as she look into me "You worry, I knew... And I'm thankful for that." She smiled genuinely to me like an Angel "However, wasn't it you that said, We are Shinobi now." Her words filled with firm steel for some reason "We are legally adult, and you won't be at our side forever." She place her well condition hand on her chest "It not your fault I'm hurt, it my own decision, surely you understand that, right now, I am a Kunoichi, no longer girl in academy."

I only can stare at the Hyūga with astonished look. For some reason this scenario quite familiar, I can't recall it where I seen it though.

Slowly, small smile crossed to my face. I did say that aren't I? Well...

"If you said it in such intimate manner." I breath out a dramatic sigh "How can I said something else?" I enjoy the blush that Hinata have, I really am, this girl really like a doll! "I guess, you has grown huh? From the little, timid and meek girl, into beautiful, adult and brave woman." I said in exaggerate manner

It take everything I have to not glomp this girl when her face turned to full red. I mean, have you ever seen someone face turned to like tomato?! I never seen one in previous life! Things like this happen must be because Chakra! It so amazing!

Damn my weakness to cute things

"H-Haru-kun!" Hinata squeaked out with mixture of indignant and embarrassment

I allow chuckle out from my mouth, Haku also follow my act as Hinata face scrunched to small pout

"A-Anyway! A-Aren't you two supposed to rest now? I-I mean, you two still not sleep until now right?" She asked while changing the topic

Well... That was true, Naruto not here is because he ordered by Kakashi to go home and rest so he can trained properly tomorrow, right now everyone is supposed to resting.

According to Haku, Naruto protested but Kakashi won't have any of that, he said this is strict order and can visit Hinataa tomorrow after he rest, taking care of himself first before someone else

He also told Haku here to go home but... Let just say Haku very stubborn, add the fact she not part of Team 7. I doubt Naruto will sleep though, he probably waiting for me right now to inform him about Hinata condition

However, truthfully we, Ninja, actually can go without sleep for one day. It was very obvious, we are far stronger than normal Human, so our stamina and body also affected. If I want, I can go wake up without sleep for two days

But still, sleep is necessary for our health, despite we can awake more than 24 hours, but we still sleep like normal people. Of course, if there emergency things we can push ourselves, Jōnin like Gai and Kakashi caliber can easily fight without problem even if they not sleep for 24 hours

I, Myself also can fight without have to sleep. Of course it will be very tiresome and I won't in my prime condition, however at least I'm not going to be defenseless when got ambushed

Normally, I going to say no and insist to stay with her... But now...

"M-Maybe you right." I cursed myself for stuttering a bit, despite it only small but I knew Haku and Hinata caught it. Closing my eyes and take breath, I let it out slowly "I obviously need some rest."

"H-Haru-kun?" Hinata voice filled with concern and confused, no doubt because my mood change

Hiding it would be useless, it clear they already knew, and my mind right now also really need some break. I pretend to be fine and cheer her up but in truth I, myself also in need of some help

I can't do this alone...

"Haku, I order you to leave me alone for today." I said blandly as I slowly stand

But at same time I can't ask for help...

"Haru-sama?"

"H-Haru-kun?"

Ignoring them, I turned and walk toward the room door, placing my hand to the knob I open it before take one step outside and paused

"I will visit again tomorrow I promise." I muttered loud enough for them

I already this far... A whole clan and people dead... I can prevent Hizashi dead but I didn't... I can do something about Uchiha clan, yet I let them dead just like that, true it would be better seeing Orochimaru can stole their bodies if they still alive but...

A children... A baby... A pregnant mother... A kind and loving sibling...

I already have too many dead people on my back... And I never care about them in first place... Never even think about them... Never even give small amount of care... They all is nothing but Pawn and dead bodies...

Heck, even I don't care about what happen to Sasuke, a child who trapped in his own nightmare for three days, watching his family to be butchered over and over again by his own big brother who in fact love him so much that he can't kill him but he can kill his own lover, father and mother

Even Naruto, and Hinata... I never even think about them... True I get fond of them, but they still only pieces of chessboard to me...

And yet...

As I walk out from hospital, I found myself staring at the Hokage mountain, four Leader of Konoha faces that look to the whole village, watching over them like a guardian and symbol that represent the village

"Why the fuck I have to regain my morality now?" I croaked out to no one

I didn't notice it... Not at all... At first, it was subtle, very subtle... The thought to protect everyone close to me, to holding them, nurture them, always be there for them, becoming their support... I brush them off... Thinking them as nothing but my mind try to make plan and adapt so they depend on me, so they close to me and only count on me, making me easy to manipulate them as I wish...

But now... This can't be denied anymore... What happen with Neji when I snap... That wasn't fake feeling, that wasn't act... It was pure rage... I really going to kill Neji that time if he come at me, Chidori or Rasengan straight to his heart, consequence be damned.

That wasn't good... Really not good at all...

I allow myself to be controlled by my feeling, showing sign of weakness to the World that filled with monsters. Such sign... It would be the death of me... For all I know, now Orochimaru who observe me already aware that I have fondness to Hinata and...

I'm not ready for monster at Orochimaru caliber... Not yet... Even with Sharingan and go all out by showing all my Ninjutsu and Genjutsu in arsenal, I don't think I can win against him.

But moreover... With my morality intact like this... What about my goal? I already did so much... So many things I can prevent but I allow them for my plan and goal... It not like I don't want to let it go... I realize part of my mind wishing for me to stop this madness, to stop my scheme and make this village become better...

But so many has died and sacrficed for my sake, for my ambition... And if I let it go... I can't... Add the fact that there still big monster beneath this peaceful tree that possibly watching over me now...

"Ah, there you are."

My neck snapped instantly when familair voice spotted me, my eyes widened at the figure that approach me with gentle smile in his face

"K-Kami-sama!" I gasped, instantly I fell to one knee in honorable position

"Stiff as usual huh?" He sighed, I can't see his face since I look down to the ground but I'm sure he look annoyed like usual "Get up Haru-kun."

I did as he command, keeping my face calm while inwardly I panic a bit "Kami-sama, are you looking for me?" I asked "All you need just to tell one of Ninjas to contact me, not need to look for me personally." He must be want to talk further about my Sharingan and my act, Gods this will be very dangerous! I knew it will happen after the Preliminary Exam done, and I already have plan to handle it but...

"Well, let just say I need to escape from some paperwork." Hiruzen responded with mirth in his eyes "And you proved to be good alibi." He stated "Do you mind to accompany this old man to walk around the village?"

Like you give me any choice...

"Of course!" I said with nod "I have nothing else to do so..."

"Good!" Hiruzen chuckled "Then, let go visit Memorial Stone, it been a while since I go there after all."

* * *

For Sasuke, Haru is brother... One that can't be replaced by anyone... No, calling him brother wouldn't be enough. Haru is friend, best friend, and can be said father, or even mother figure sometime

He still remember the time they spend together ever since they were children. How Haru been there for him, helping him with his training, waking his up from his nightmare and comforting him, making him associate with other and give back the Light that loss when his family slaughtered

And he also help him to uncover the mystery of Uchiha Massacre

The more Haru said to him, the more it become clear that such thing can happen without village aware is impossible. Uchiha Clan by any mean not small or minor, they was one of the biggest clan in Konoha, even if their compound a bit isolated from the village but the Chakra burst or jutsu that used should be detected by the Ninja inside the village

And there no way as well Itachi can kill the whole family without one of them go to village and call for reinforcement. Granted, maybe Itachi can have help from outside but how he sneak them in without anyone noticing it and how they escape without ANBU hot in their trail?!

**_"There nothing we can do for now. The possibilities is too many Sasuke, but make no mistake, I don't think Itachi kill the whole clan for his own gain. No, there something bigger behind this event, and only Itachi himself know about this, so to find out the truth we have to confront him directly. And since I doubt he will speak the truth easily, we have to do it the hard way. For now, focus to getting stronger so we can get the truth from him."_**

Ever since that day, he train himself, no longer he bound by revenge, but with finding the truth. He want to know exactly what happen in that night, why his brother kill their family? Why he always pushing him away? Why he wish for him to avenge the family? Why he want him to have Mangekyo Sharingan as well?

And... And why he cry before he leave?

It was hazy... Only a blur... But when he find himself alone... In peace... And memorizing that painful night... He remember that Itachi cry... He shed tears when gazing to him, and that red eyes that usually always calm, composed and also cold... Express nothing but sadness and pain

So he train... He train to find out the truth, he never ask for help but Haru always there and offer him. It was slow, he never wish to get his help, but with time passed, he found that training with Haru -and Naruto- proved to be beneficial

Rather than hitting dummy, it better to have someone to spar with...

At first, he only comfortable with Haru... Too afraid to make another bond because he don't want to loss it, not after what happen to his family... But with Naruto loud nature, Hinata shy and gentle demeanor, Shino logical and composed nature... The anchor spread... No longer he bound only to Haru, but he found himseld bonded to the other as well

Like a family... And he actually like it...

Part of his mind yelling at him, screaming in anger for him to dare replace the memory of his father and mother, and all his clan members. But at same time, Sasuke found himself can't care about them... His mother and father probably want him to move on, they want revenge, yes, but they would want him to happy, especially his mother

His father for all his stoic and cold demeanor, but Sasuke has seen his soft spot, when he finally learn **Gōkakyu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique)**, he remember how he declare he proud of him, and how he actually mean it. How his mother said that he always talk about him during behind his back...

They love him... They want to be revenged, yes, but they also want him to be happy...

Image of Haru wearing apron while holding ladle and smiling, Naruto with his hands crossed to back of his head while grinning, Hinata soft and shy smile while blushing, Shino stoic and composed demeanor followed by his... 'Why' joke as Haru dub it

It brought smile to his face... They are his family... His father also always said it, family come first no matter what... They maybe not related by blood, but Sasuke will give his life to save them...

And Haru...

Between the group... He is the closest person to him, second only by... Dobe...

Haru remind him of his mother actually. The way he care, the way he handle the Uchiha Compund, how he take care of him and Naruto that always debating to each other -not his fault, it was the dobe who start it!-, how he always act in the house...

And then sometime... He remind him of Itachi...

Haru is not just only talented, he is purely genius. In art of Shinobi, he display superior skill, strength, speed, endurance and everything. People often call him genius, he even heard that many Chūnin instructor said he will make into Chūnin not long after he graduate from academy

And yet... Compared to Haru...

However unlike Itachi, Haru care. Haru not push him around, he sit with him, talk how his training progress, how he get the idea to create new technique, how it can be used and even sometime ask for his opinion despite Sasuke knew the boy probably not need it...

Undoubtedly he really like Itachi... But perhaps, he not someone that push people away... He pull them with him..

Though, he knew Haru can be cold to people, that's why he remind him of Itachi. Haru while care to people in his circle, but he appear to be apathic about the outside one, he always calm and composed when handling situation, just like Itachi...

It kind of scare him because he afraid that Haru will be like HIM. Despite he knew Haru is different person, but he can't help but always comparing him to Itachi... Thinking how similar they are and just how similar his own relationship with them...

He normally always brush off that thought, thinking it as nothing but a mere fragment of his mind that loss in his dark memory. But when that... That fucking Snake Sannin plant him with this seal...

The memory surfaced... And it not pleasant... Not at all...

"I knew you already awake."

Sasuke neck snapped to the balcony direction when familiar voice call him, eyes widened when see Haru in there

"They said you can't be visited, there even one or two ANBU around but hey, it seems they not that sharp for me to able to sneak in." Haru said with small grin as he remove his sandals and step in to the room

"Haru..." Sasuke spoke softly

"Yo!" He greeted "How are you Sasuke?"

"I'm fine..." Sasuke grunted "Little sore and exhausted but give me rest for one or next two days I will be back to. Normal." His Chakra indeed depleted more than normal, but he can tell now it slowly healed, he not Chakra monster like Naruto and not even reach Haru level, but he close enough and have huge reserve for someone at his age

"Good, good." Haru nodded with small smile "I'm glad you fine... I hear that someone sneak in so..."

"Just like you did now?" Sasuke pointed dryly, does Konoha security really that bad now?

"Truthfully I'm not, I got official paper from Hokage that allow me to visit you." Haru said while holding the document to Sasuke who has his eyes twitched "That aside..." He then go and pull one chair, sitting on his side who resting in bed "We need to talk." He stated, face set to calm and composed, and once again it remind him of how Itachi expression

Sasuke doesn't sure what to say actually... He remember clearly what he said when he just awaken in Forest, how he declare that Haru just like him. How in depth part of his mind he still after for vengeance...

He actually knew Haru doesn't care if he still wishing for revenge, but he knew Haru won't approve it if he discard everything he have now just for the sake of his revenge.

"What you said in that forest..." Haru started, eyes locking to him "I know it come from you... A depth part of your mind perhaps that your abandon... And Sasuke, know that I don't care about it..."

Sasuke only can stare at him. Of course, of course Haru will said that. This is man who know Naruto secret ever since he child, and never once he give a shit about it and keep be friending with him despite just how mind boogling is it. Even if he say he doesn't care about it, but when Naruto tell him that he have motherfucking Kyuubi in his gut, he actually shocked...

He may act not bothered and he did... He didn't particularly care about Naruto condition now, but if he find out about it when they still stranger? Even he will be forced to wary... But Haru? He doesn't care at all...

So... He actually not that surprised that Haru doesn't care about what he said in forest few days ago

"But... I kind of happy that you think me as your big brother." Haru spoke, his voice now soft and filled with fondness

"I..." Sasuke swallowed, for some reason it kind embarrassing to say "I do Haru... I think of you as my family... And big brother..." He confessed "You were there for me when I'm in the darkness... You help me a lot Haru, and... You..." He gulped "You actually more brother than Itachi..." He said in whispery tone

He was sure Haru clearly not expecting that, judging by the way his eyes widened and his jaw that loosened a bit. Sasuke can see there relief and happiness that reflected in Haru eyes and he feel his face warmed a bit because saying such things

He not one who love to talk mushy-mushy things, it was Naruto and Hinata job! But he admit... It kind of nice sometime, especially at time like this

"I see..." Haru chuckled gently "I guess... I really honored you think of me like that..." He then give smile to him before it replaced by his usual calm and composed face "Then, I also have something to tell you."

"Something to tell me?" Sasuke asked, eyebrow quirked

Haru close his eyes, and it really remind him of how Itachi act for some reason when his big brother try to tell him somethimg. This brought unpleasant sensation to Sasuke but he keep his face as calm as possible

"Know that... I never intent to not tell you... It just that I found myself hard to tell you giving what happen to you..." He said in slight hesitate manner

"Haru..." Sasuke called, his voice is dry for some reason "What you actually want to say?"

Haru decide to not reply, he only silent while keep his face composed. Then slowly, he open his eyes and Sasuke breath stuck in his throat for moment

A pair of red orbs with black pupil and ring, followed by three black tomoe that swirl around meet with his black eyes

"Y-Your eyes..." Sasuke rasped, eyes wide and face express pure shock "T-That's..."

"I'm Haru Uchiha..." Haru said, voice remain blank and calm "I guess you calling me big brother not mistake, we are blood related after all."

He doesn't know what to say... His words still freeze in his throat as he try to comprehend what he actually see now, what the sight that his eyes actually grant to him

"I awaken my eyes when I'm nine... And when I did, I actually want to tell you... But I found myself hesitate." Haru continued seeing Sasuke still frozen "It wasn't secret that I'm... More mature than you and everyone else... At that time I was thinking maybe you not ready to heard it, you were still young that time and if I show you my Sharingan, I'm afraid it will effect our relationship and you take it in bad way since I will remind you of Itachi...

"You probably think of me as coward, and I only said that as a reason, I admit I was. I have no other reason than afraid that you may take it in bad way, so I decide to hide it until I'm ready... Or you ready perhaps, when you can let go your dark desire and live in more free manner."

He can't do anything but only silent as he stare at those red orbs and facial expression that eerily familiar. The image of his big brother staring at him that night with same expression and same eyes crossed in his mind and he found his grip on his blanket tightened

"Who else?" Sasuke asked, voice is dry as if he not drink for very long time

"No one... You are the only Uchiha left in Konoha, and because of that I believe you deserve to be the first who know about it." Haru answered "Though the Hokage aware of it somehow."

"... Your parent... Do you..."

"I'm an orphan Sasuke. I don't know which one was the Uchiha."

"Right..." Sasuke have decency to look sheepish at least for moment as he look to the person he consider as family and model figure. He once again only close his mouth and stare at Haru who remain impassive and collected, just like how Itachi were. "I... Haru... I..." Sasuke take deep breath, trying his best to compose himself and find the right words "This... This doesn't change anything..." He muttered, making Haru blinked "You always there for me Haru, even when before you awakened your Sharingan. So what if you have one? It doesn't matter! In fact, it was the opposite! It mean we..."

We are really family... A real brother...

And that really brought warm feeling to his chest... It really make him happy for some reason... Knowing that Haru is not just someone that he used to replace his family that loss, he really is his family!

"It been a while since I see you crying." Haru spoke softly, his collected and calm face broke into small smile

"W-What?" Sasuke hand instantly moved to his face and to his surprise, he find lone tear fell from his left eye, prompting it to become widened

"I'm glad you happy." Haru continued "And here I was afraid you going to told me to go away. But it seems you so happy that you shed a tears of joy."

His face feel hot, and judging by how Haru annoying smirk, it clear that he just make stupid or embarrassing expression! He don't know either he should pull blanket to hide himself or shoot fire to Haru face for teasing him like that!

"Haru!" He growled with obvious anger, prompting chuckle from the person that mentioned

"Sorry, sorry. Can't help it."

The atmosphere in room seems lightened than before as both of them fell to silence. It clear to Sasuke that Haru won't speak any further and waiting for how he responsed, swallowing the lump on his throat, his glare melted and his face turned to one of hesitation and unsure. He doesn't know what to say actually, this is all too much to take in...

"I... I guess... I should call you big brother then?" Sasuke asked in small tone, trying to make starter

At that Haru blinked, then he tilt his head and mouth curled to small smile "I guess so..." He said "But even if I don't have this eyes, know that you are still little brother to me." His Sharingan shifted back to his black coal eyes "You, Naruto, Hinata and Shino... The four of you precious to me. You all practically the only family that I have in this World." His small smile widen, making it more obvious as he give soft look to him "No matter what, we are brother Sasuke, you and I. We are family, and no one can change that."

Sasuke only can look to the man with astonished expression. He knew he heard it so many time, but somehow this time, this time it make him more happy than usual... Family... They are family...

"You will start your training with Kakashi-san after you got out from hospital right?" Haru asked

"Yes..." Sasuke nodded in confirmation

"Think you can spare some time for me? I can help you in using your Sharingan. Unlike Kakashi-san who have his body limited since he can't use Sharingan for long time, I can."

Sasuke this time no longer trying to hide his expression as wide and smile pure of happiness, one that he use only when he were children appear in his face

"Of course! I will love to... Nii-san."

Haru smile remain calm and collected, and for moment it remind Sasuke to how Itachi was when they spend time together. And for some reason, he doesn't afraid anymore that Haru will be like Itachi...

Because he know, for all their similarities, Haru is different...

* * *

**... Hi ... So... It really been a while isn't it? ;P**

**Okay! Okay! Okay! I'm SORRY! I know you all obviously upset that this chapter come out so long and I actually have no reason why I updated so late! X.X**

**To be honest, mostly is because I want half chapter of this story to be done beta edited, since I aware my grammar was so bad! That's why I wait a bit before posting another chapter! So new reader can enjoy half of this story!**

**And well, thanks to Frouade effort! There many chapter that finally got edited prologue until 21! Give applause and cheer for that man! Yeah! You rock bro! Thx for helping me! XDD**

**Anyway, let get to the point of this chapter. This is mostly show how Haru growth. As you can see, Haru in his childhood focused to become strong and train himself properly, however if you once again read his childhood, you all will notice Haru scheme and manipulation actually not that bad. Compared to Danzo and Orochimaru, he is nothing but a cute puppy**

**Before any of you yell, you must know no one born as Monster in first place. Haru is not criminal in his previous life, he just normal guy, a captain in ship actually, someone with decent job, he maybe an asshole but by any mean he not killer or a monster**

**You can't make monster so easy. You can't just get reincarnated then "I want to have Rinnegan! Yeah! I will slaughter anyone that dare to stand in my path!" No! It not work that way! Even serial killer have slight hesitation when they about to murder their first victim -unless that serial killer have deranged mind-**

**Haru have many plan and scheme in his head, but the question is, when the time come, is he ready to abandon his humanity? For someone normal like him, that actually not easy, that's what we call growing jackass!**

**So yeah, right now he finally hit the wall! A wall that separate him from becoming monster, now the question is, will he tore apart that wall and become one to achieve his goal? Or will he warm his heart and stride away from the wall, deciding to use more humane way?**

**Well, that is for me to know my dear reader! And for you all to wait! Ufufufu**

**And he finally decide to tell Sasuke the truth! Awww! Isn't that sweet? Is he being honest to him? Or is it just his way to manipulate Sasuke further? Well, I leave that for your imagination!**

**Next chapter! Haru start his training, and someone finally make move on him! Our favorite perverted sage also finally make his appearance! Hahahaha!**

**Kay folks! This is it for now, I hope you love this chapter! Please Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**

**P.S : There slight misplaced chapter in chapter 25, 26 and 27. They supposed to be chapter 24, 25 and 26, this chapter is the real chapter 27. I will fix it later as soon the chapter done get beta edited because I kind of loss the document x.x**

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Small Omake, inspired by non-fanfiction member review, Tsuchigumo

* * *

**Legacy**

* * *

She gently brushed the sleeping babe's hair, observing his sleeping face. His hair was a chestnut brown, much like hers.

The boy shifted around and yawned, and she couldn't hold back the squeal. Her baby boy was adorable! The sound made him blink, staring up at her with bleary coal grey eyes. A small, pudgy arm reached out for her, and she held it in her much larger one.

"You look a lot like your dad, little Haru," she whispered, "But you have mama's hair."

She only vaguely remembered the father of her child; tall and handsome, with contrasting pale skin and dark hair. His eyes though, she remembered very well; a flinty coal grey, sparks dancing within. She'd had a particularly tough mission the week before and had gone to the bar to get smashed- where she ended up sitting at the counter, next to the mystery man. She remembered him to be quiet, yet charming, and eventually they ended up in her apartment.

He made her breakfast next morning and left on his way, and she donned her mask and hoped being hungover wouldn't matter too much in her daily patrols.

She hadn't even asked the man's name.

* * *

ANBU operatives are subject to monthly medical and psychological evaluations, and that's where she first learned the consequences of her drunken escapade two weeks back.

"Congratulations," said the medic dryly. "You'll have a fun time explaining this to the Commander, I'm sure."

"But I can't be pregnant! How could I forget the..."

Operative Bird-12 trailled off, remembering that day.. The mystery man, as she called him in her head, was surprisingly good at cooking, and she'd had breakfast in bed that morning. A steamy shower later, he'd said goodbye and left for his mission, and she had left for her daily patrol.

She'd forgotten the morning-after pills.

The medic sighed, "I'll notify him myself; you just worry about yourself now. Come back here at 0900 hours tomorrow."

Commander Dragon was quite understanding however. There will always be place for a ninjutsu powerhouse like her in the corps, provided she regained her skills after giving birth. It's only been a a couple of months since the third war ended; every child was a valuable asset now, so she was encouraged to go along with the birth.

The Fourth relegated her back to special jounin status and set her up in a desk job.

"A baby huh? I could use one myself," mused the legendary Namikaze Minato, while he signed her ANBU reassignment forms.

* * *

She was a kunoichi born in a war torn era, growing up hearing the drums of war beat beyond the walls of her village. She knew nothing about raising a child.

"They'll take better care of you at the orphanage," whispered Operative Bird-33, trying not to feel to guilty; this was for the betterment of her child. She had rejoined ANBU as a Bird mask once more, with only a different number.

"Goodbye, Haru-kun. Mama loves you," she said, kissing his forehead one last time. She left him infront of the orphanage door, with a blank paper containing his name.

* * *

Operative Bird-33 dies in the Kyuubi attack.

* * *

Uchiha Kyouya is out on a regular patrol of the stteets of Konoha. It's been four years since the Kyuubi incident.

He watches the jinchuuriki and another boy walk through the streets, seemingly brushing off the stares of the morning Konoha crowd.

The jinchuuriki is one of Konoha's most important assets now, in its fragile state, so its Kyouya's duty as a police officer to protect him. He was sure there was an ANBU on watch, but they wouldn't come out unless anyone resorted to physical violence. However, a person cannot only be hurt physically; they can be hurt mentally too. As an Uchiha he knows this better than most.

He notices the increasingly heated words of the shopkeeper, and the rising volume of the other boy with the Jinchuuriki.

"What s wrong with you?! All he did is only looking at that mask! Why you being rude to him?! We all Konoha citizens aren't we? Naruto never even met you before in his life, let alone do you any harm!" shouted the boy. The words struck something within the police officer.

The Uchiha clan had been holding up a majority of Konoha's weight on its shoulders since the inception of the village. Tirelessly they worked to keep the streets safe, catch foreign infiltrators, track down thieves and serial killers, and hunt missing-nin. They always fought in the frontlines of every war, risking their lives to steal enemy jutsu. Most of the ninjutsu and genjutsu available to Konoha-shinobi in the archives are spoils of the Uchiha clan, yet they were chided for stealing jutsu. And even though every Uchiha was accounted for during the nine tails incident, the entire village viewed them in suspicion because great grandpa Madara had somehow dominated the freaking Kyuubi, destroyer of civilisations and a walking natural disaster.

"Now you see here boy!" The shopkeeper trying his best to look intimidating as people begin to whisper to each other now, few children even pointing to him

Decide he had see enough and the situation can get worse for the boy, Kyouya decide to interfere as he walk through many civilians and make his presence known

"Is there problem?" He asked coldly, putting Uchiha famous stoic face as he glaring at the shopkeeper and the boy

"Ah! Officer!" The shopkeeper appear to be glad, albeit he can tell the man nervous, but he tried his best to cover it "This boy! He-"

"I had see everything from the beginning." Kyouya cut him swiftly, making the man stiffened "And need I remind you there reason why Sandaime Hokage-sama put that rule?" He asked coldly "Is this your way to repay someone sacrifice?"

The shopkeeper began to sputter, Kyouya noted that there few civilians who look abashed, though majority scoffed but he still can see hint of shame behind those fear and hatred emotions. He even noted there Hyūga among them, one that wearing maid outfit and the second is a child, he realize her as Hiashi youngest daughter

"Make sure things like this not happen anymore. This boy is citizens of Konoha, and he have any right to be treated properly." He continued sharply "If you try to discriminating him because petty reason, I will report this to Civillian Monitoring Division."

The shopkeeper become pale and sputtering apologize but Kyouya pay him no mind as he looking to the boy who looking at him with wide eyes and surprised face, he no longer see the Jinchuuriki, probably already run away after yelling at

"Thanks Mister," said the little boy with brown hair and coal grey eyes.

The cop simply nodded, as he had done nothing more than hid duty. "You're welcome."

The boy give one last nod before he turned away and chased after his friend that gone.

For a moment, Uchiha Kyouya thought back to the childs dark eyes, so similar to those of his clan. He also looked quite similar to an Uchiha kid, particularly Itachi-kun, Fugaku-niisan's eldest; the younger Sasuke had taken more after Lady Mikoto and lacked the sharp angles the street boy shared with you, Fugaku and Itachi.

Maybe if he'd had a son, he might've looked a bit like that.

The police officer shook his head and cheered up inside. 'Right, I'm only twenty three years old! I still have decades left in me; I'll find a sexy and powerful kunoichi, woo her with my Uchiha charm, marry her, have two adoraable kids, and then get four adorable grandkids. I'll spoil them with lots of deadly kunai and shuriken, and die a happy man. That's my foolproof dream!'

* * *

Uchiha Kyouya died a few years later, gutted like a fish by the nephew who once demanded piggy-backs from him as a child. His dream remained unfulfilled; Kyouya was not even married.

* * *

He had wished for two children. He did not know it, but his dream had half come true.

* * *

Haru stopped by at the memorial on the way back home from training.

Nearly a hundred names had been added overnight- the last being Uchiha Shisui, once it was determined that he was probably the first victim of Konoha's latest S-rank missing-nin. Being killed by a traitor counted as dying in the line of duty, so every Uchiha shinobi who died in the massacre were mentioned on the monument. An entire column of names beginning with 'Uchiha' struck Haru's eyes.

An entire clan, wiped out. He was staring at a record of genocide, engraved into stone.

"I will avenge you, Shisui-san, don't worry I will turn this World to be a better place." whispered the boy, saying a short prayer for his unknowing kin.

He remembered a thousand hours spent with Shisui, dancing among the trees of the training grounds, laughing and trying to strangle each other. He remembered the clenched jaw of Itachi, as he delivered the letter that Shisui left for him. He remembered a hundred proud men, wearing the red and white fan boldy on their backs. And he remembered that officer from long ago, who didn't hesitate to do his duty.

He swear... In name of all dead's that caused by his manipulation and scheme, that he will change this World. He will bring peace and make sure things like this won't happen anymore when he rule over this World.

Even if it mean he have to turn this World upside down and bring the whole nations into their knee... He will change this World

_By any mean necessary_


	29. Red Lullaby

**Chapter 28. Red Lullaby**

* * *

**27 Days before the Tournament of Chūnin Exam**

His movement is good. There no wasted move in there. He's fast, undoubtedly so, one of the fastest among his age, even Naruto for all his massive stamina have to use clone to track him if he serious like now, and even so it still won't be easy for him.

For me? It was easy

A straight jab from my fist to his chest make him gasped, it was solid hit, one that when struck in will make normal men gasping for breath at least or even stumble back and fell to their rear

But he didn't, he hold the pain and keep forward, his left knee raised with intent to hit my right side that open. However my eyes saw it easily, the way he move, the way his muscles twitch, there no details that missed by my eyes

The moment his knee raised my other hand already snaked to her thigh, wrapping around it and I yank his whole body back, in instant my elbow was ready for him. Sound of bones and cartilage snapped echoed as the edge of my elbow meet his nose with force that make his head snapped back

Taking advantage of his dizzy condition, I release my grip on his thigh and my fingers instantly glued to his neck like snake that coil it prey. He gasped for air immediately, arms shakily raised to peel off my grip, but he didn't need to. Cocking back my hand, I throw him like a ragdoll and watch him crashed to the earth in rough manner, skidding painfully and let out weak whimper of pain

"Do you get it by now?" I asked as I insert my hands to my pocket and walk toward him "Sasuke..."

Sasuke shakily push himself from the ground, blood dripped from his lips as he let out heavy breath while clutching his throat that sore

Seeing he obviously still can't answer I decide to continue "You did not see me. Not at all." I stated "Sharingan is powerful weapon, make no mistake, it is one of the most deadly bloodline in the World. However if you can't see your enemy then it worthless." I stopped in front of him and look down at him who now sitting "Did you see my attack back then?"

Sasuke glanced at me and grunted "No."

"Exactly." I grunted back "One of Sharingan weakness, it range is like normal eyes no matter how sharp it is. It work like one too save for it special abilities."

Unlike Byakugan that can see everything, Sharingan vision is limited. You can hide your make numbers with your finger and hide it behind your body and Sharingan cannot tell, but Byakugan? I don't think so

Many people assume you have Sharingan you can see everything. Well sadly you're wrong, that Byakugan ability. In perceiving human anatomy and Chakra point, Byakugan far surpassing Sharingan.

It correct to assume Sharingan is better than Byakugan. Against common ninja, Sharingan is more versatile and have better abilities such as visual Genjutsu. However if you face Hyūga, then you can say your Sharingan won't do much against Byakugan

Hyūga immune to Genjutsu, even one that Sharingan have. Their eyes can see foreign Chakra that invade their Chakra pathway and flush them out easily, and they also can see if you try to use Jutsu even better than Sharingan.

If you have Mangekyō though, it will be different case. However the cost for that power is really high, losing someone very important to you and not to mention the moment you unlock Mangekyō you fated to be blind unless you pluck your own family eyes for you

There reason why no other Uchiha unlock Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan save for Madara after all...

"You know how Haku mirror works. You has face her before." I continued "She come from 360° and her speed is fast. To handle that, your eyes movement must be fast, and your body also need to be able to react fast enough." I lectured to him who now looking at me with thoughtful face "I heard your short battle against Rock Lee from Naruto."

I did not surprised that he still end losing despite he's better than his canon counterpart. From Naruto story, Sasuke manage to land few solid blow to Lee, however the senior Genin landed many blow to him, and Sasuke barely able to defend himself as well

I saw Sasuke eyes twitched, her thoughtful face also turned to one of irritation. Must be sore to be reminded of his fight, one of few things that Sasuke share with his canon counterpart is he hate losing

Especially to guy who idiot...

No offense to Rock Lee but sometime he can be more idiotic than Naruto and that mean something seeing Naruto himself barely not become deadlast of our generation

And even so it take me and Hinata to tutor him privately and force the knowledge to enter his brain

There comfortable silence between us, Sasuke contemplating what he heard and probably thinking about what's needed to fight Haku, meanwhile I start to humming a tune that remind me of the home, it good relaxation after all.

"Nii-san, I have question." Sasuke called, breaking me from my temporary peace

Nii-san... That's what Sasuke decide to call me if we alone. At first he seems hesitated to call me that and I told him there's no need to force himself. However he insist to call me that for some reason, I have a guess what is it though

"Hmm? What is it?"

"My Sharingan unlike yours that already matured, it still only have two tomoe." Sasuke said in uncertain voice "And we right now train to advance my eyes correct?"

... So that's what you want to ask huh? While letting out another hum I answered "Correct."

"Then do you went through training like this?" He asked me "I mean, how's Sharingan become mature in first place? There's no clear explanation even about it in our clan private library."

Of course it didn't, because the way Sharingan become mature is considered dark... Sharingan get stronger the more you grief and experience sadness, that is not considered good things. There's no way your own family going to tell you that you need to get mental trauma to active your own bloodline, that will scare you away and pollute the young generation mind

"I remember asking my father when I was young about Sharingan." Sasuke informed with thoughtful look "He said Sharingan grow mature in time and when you have enough experience."

... He did not wrong... Technically, the more experienced you are as Shinobi, the more you would face something bad and make your eyes evolve due to the grief and sadness you burden. And maturity as well, grief and sadness alone didn't enough to strengthen your eyes, because if you did not understand the true meaning what make you grief and wail then it become baseless and have weak foundation

That's the reason why Sasuke Sharingan did not evolve into three tomoe after watch his family brutally murdered by his own brother through Tsukuyomi. Because Sasuke still a child, his mental still weak and he didn't understand completely what actually happen and how it will scar his life...

"He's right, it was experience." I agreed with Fugaku explanation "I awaken mine when I was nine, and I train three years to get this into three tomoe." I pointed to my own eyes, that was lie, I actually awake mine when I was four after all, and I unlock third tomoe from Shisui death

Sasuke lips turned to thin line "Then, is that mean I going to need for three years or that long?" Judging by how he speak it obvious he did not find such period of time is acceptable

"No." I shook my head negatively "As matter of fact, I'm sure you will unlock third tomoe only in next few months, six is the longest." I said in reassuring voice

Sasuke blinked in confusion "How so?" He inquired

"It need experience to make Sharingan maturer, I spend time three years because I having hard time to learn." I informed "I mean, I was civilian back then, there's nothing much I can do. You, however is Shinobi, get what I mean?"

Sasuke give me nod with understanding face "Yes."

"And since we know your eyes will get matured in time, then right now we focus to another things. Train to use Sharingan better." I said to him "Kakashi-sensei maybe have Sharingan as well, however he's unlike us who can use it daily and without big cost of Chakra. So it better if eyes related training spend with me, I also can give you tip about Taijutsu. Ninjutsu however you can go with Kakashi, he's known as Ninja Who Copy Thousand Jutsu for reason after all." I explained my training method to him who appear to be serious taking it "He also can help you in Taijutsu since he's rival of Gai Maito, Rock Lee teacher." I added as my mind briefly drifted to the bowl haired teacher

"I see..." Sasuke muttered in deep thought "Then, how about Genjutsu?" He asked me

"... I guess I can teach you lesson about Genjutsu as well. Visual Genjutsu specifically." I answered with thoughtful face and small hum "But that after your eyes movement and speed get better, focus at one thing for now." I told him in lecturing manner

"Hn." Sasuke simply grunted at me

I found his displeased face and uncaring tone annoying for some reason

"Break time over, let's continue." I said flatly as I raise my leg above my head

Sasuke waste no time to roll away since where he sat moment ago turned to crater in instant

* * *

**25 Days before Tournament of Chūnin Exam **

"It's not like you to invite me to ramen at time like this." I commented as, my head resting on my palm and I staring at him in lazy manner, my other hand playing with the noodles soup with chopstick, swirling it softly

"What's wrong with invite you to ramen?" The boy asked with small irritation in his eyes "I always love ramen!"

"I know that." I chuckled in ease manner "What I mean is, don't you have training to do? You usually pretty much very serious about one. Especially since you going to face Haku or Sasuke in tournament later." Even Sasuke also decide to stay with Kakashi and not going back to home until the tournament done.

Uchiha Compound lately only become place for sleep, none of us spending time in there since we go out to traning in day and goes home at night and sleep afterward, then we wake up in morning and go out for training again

And among all of us, Naruto is the one who work hardest in training. So I'm surprised that he invite me to eat ramen in middle of day instead for dinner. I mean, sure he maybe want to eat together but only after his training for the day done so it should be dinner, not lunch like this

If only Naruto have my knowledge... He would be a Hokage right now, imagine what I can do with all those Chakra, Gods, I will gladly trade my Sharingan to be in his position

Said the blonde now huffed his cheeks and turned away, his face morphed to one of irked expression but my sharp eyes caught small pink hue in his cheeks "I just want to relax a bit. You always said training non-stop isn't good for health so..."

I only stared at him for few seconds, watching as he resume to eat his ramen, slurping the noodles before I chuckled "Sasuke told you that I train with him isn't he?"

The effect is instant. Naruto choked on his ramen, fist instantly flung and pounded his chest in attempt to spit out the food that enter the wrong hole

I let out snort that turned to snicker in the end as I watched Naruto trying to save himself from dead by his own favorite food

"You did that on purpose." Naruto accused with glare after calming himself, his breath still quite ragged though

"So I did." I admitted shamelessly

His glare intensified "Bastard!"

"Language." I admonished instantly, giving the boy smack on his back, there no force inside it though

Naruto huffed his cheeks in annoyance and slurp his ramen again

I shake my head as I began to resume to eat my own food. Seriously... If this isn't too damn amusing, I would be creeped out now

I mean... It obvious that Sasuke pretty much upset that Naruto report his battle against Rock Lee to me. That boy become a bit... Childish now... No, it more like he seems look up to me more ever since I reveal my Uchiha status to him

Can't be helped... I'm the only family he have now -other than Itachi. He watched his entire clan killed one by one, and he wish that everyday that's only a nightmare, that someone, anyone from his clan at least survive. He so desperate to the idea of having his family back, even if he has bonded with us but deep inside he knew his real family will never be replacable

Then I come... Someone who has been there for him for very long time, saving him from total darkness. And to add more sweet it revealed that I was indeed related to him in blood...

So yeah... Sasuke obviously doesn't like it when someone make him look bad, especially in front of me. And he respond it by letting some clue that I train with him to make Naruto feel irked

Seriously those two... Like I said, if this isn't so damn cute and I did not think of them as my little brothers I will be creeped out. I mean, hello! A two boy fighting for my attention that's... That's so... Ewww, a gay...

Their behavior and dependance to me though... Is according to my plan... With this revelation, Sasuke loyalty to me is absolute. Even if Itachi reveal the truth to him there's big chance Sasuke still going to be siding with me.

If it was me from three years ago I would smile and grinning at my plan that finally bore fruit and success

But the current me? I feel quite bitter for some unknown reason...

"Sorry I didn't tell you about it." I apologized after swallowing my ramen. Contemplating my words for moment I continue to speak "Truthfully I actually did not plan to spend time with you or him until the tournament done."

Naruto blinked at me with surprised face "Wha?"

"I mean, I don't think you two will need my help." I said in nonchalant manner "You two now are Shinobi, in law you two are adult, and one that manage to pass to main tournament of Chūnin exam." I commented while give keen look to him "I guess I'm a bit wrong in that..." I utter softly

Naruto frowned hearing that "I'm not a kid anymore!"

"I know, you are not." I swiftly answered "You can handle yourself, but that doesn't mean you're invincible."

Teenager. They don't want to be treated as kid, however in truth they are still a kid. They still young, inexperienced, their emotion is too unstable, easy to be toyed. True there's many case that teenager proved to be able to handle themselves and the old people in fault, but they not always right, as matter of fact they more vulnerable than adult when they proved wrong

Naruto only silent at my lecture, his face turned to the ramen bowl once more and I continue "No one can stand alone." I muttered softly "Human is not a creature that can live alone after all. No matter what people will always need each other."

Even if he didn't response to my word and only silent but I can tell Naruto right now in deep thought, contemplating what I just said

"Sasuke have problem... But we know he's too stubborn for his own good." I continued while stared at my own bowl with soft face "And it could be too late when he realize it. That's why I take the initiative and approach him. It not like I'm playing favorite or such things, you know I'm not that kind of person right?"

That's what currently Naruto feel... He's jealous of Sasuke, when Kakashi pick over Sasuke rather than him. However this time it not baseless actually, unlike in canon where he shove Naruto to Ebisu, Kakashi give him directly to Jiraiya. Naruto himself say that Kakashi told him to goes to hot spring and looking for pervert with long white spiky hair, if that's not enough to scream Jiraiya then I don't know what else is

I don't know why Naruto seems dislike it, I mean, Kakashi pretty much give him better teacher and stronger one, Jiraiya capable to stand against Pein for God's sake! And he fought him without knowing Rinnegan abilities!

Perhaps... It because Team Seven more closer than their canon counterpart, in here Sasuke already accept Naruto and vice versa. The third wheel in here would be Sakura, however she is not moron, I'm sure she already realize it after Wave Mission and now working to get better.

And since they more close to each other, it kind of hurt for Naruto that Kakashi pick Sasuke over him. Naruto despite his loud and cheerful behavior have personality complex due to his treatment as Jinchūriki.

"Anyway, how your training?" I asked, changing the topic. He didn't told me what exactly is, said it was secret since he going to face me in tournament later so he don't want me to know about it but he did told me he train under Jiraiya

"I don't think I made any progress." He answered in sulky manner "I mean, it was hard to summ-err use the technique! Though it only look simple but the control that needed is hard." He huffed his cheeks in irritated manner

Well... Summoning technique clearly seems not as easy as how it looks. I mean, there theory from fanfiction I read back home that to call strong summon is to dump Chakra as much as possible, however that actually pure bullshit, it did not work that way. If it did, then Naruto will be able to summon at least Gama... What's the toad that always proclaim himself as clumsy again? Meh, like I care

Anyway, you can't just dump large amount of Chakra in summoning, no, it not work that way. And not all Jutsu also can be solved by using a lot of Chakra, only few Jutsu that can use that method as matter of fact. **Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)** for example, to dumb it down, it simply gather Chakra around you then push it as much as you could, the stronger it is, the stronger the wind will be, and since Chakra pretty much compatible, even to nature, to use this technique is very easy

However to use technique very complex like Summoning Jutsu, large Chakra is not enough, you also need control. Your body is vassal to your Chakra, and the tenketsu around is the pipe that used to flowing out your Chakra. Now imagine, if you can't control your Chakra, then what if you put too much on it? The result will be those pathway strained, damaged, this is what happen to Naruto in Canon after he summon Gamabunta for the first time, his tenketsu too strained and make him exhausted

Not adding the fact he already exhausted in first time, I mean, Jiraya keep forcing him until he no longer can pull his own Chakra so he can meet the Kyuubi and get started to learn to use his power.

"Well, your Chakra pretty much quite large. So of course it will be hard." I commented "Have you try to learn to control your Chakra better? Sticking a leaves to your body while running in water might be helping."

"Already did." Naruto huffed in obvious irritation

"For how long?"

"Err only about fifteen minutes..."

"Increase the duration to hour or more, and run faster as well." I suggested "The longer you able to, the better your control." Because if you stick leaves to your own body while running around you will face against wind, and you have to keep your Chakra stable so they not blown. Add the fact you run in water and you need to keep channeling Chakra to your feet as well, it will need hardcore focus but it good training

"You make it sounds easy. It's not you know?" Naruto grumbled

"It not." I chuckled in agreement "But remember, "hard work never betray you", as long you keep pursuing and stay in right path then you will success one day."

Naruto stared at me for few seconds, then his face bloomed to grin "Heh, you're right! Hard work never betray you!" He agreed with me "I will master this new technique a week before the tournament dattebayo!" He declared while raising his chopstick "And I will need more energy for training! Teuchi-ojisan! One more pork ramen extra large!"

"One pork ramen extra large coming up!" Teuchi replied aloud with laugh

I only shake my head while watching Naruto devoured his whole bowl happily. Seriously, he's like a kid, now I understand why he so charming in canon and manage to win many people heart.

His optimism clearly bring wonder to this dark World and people can't help but look at it in awe

* * *

"Water affinity?" Genma asked with quirked eyebrow

"Yes." I nodded at him "I need tips to train about Water affinity Chakra."

My second affinity is not wind, earth or lightning despite I use those three quite often, but surprisingly it was water. Element that I rarely use as matter of fact, and between the five elements it also the one that I have small knowledge about.

Because truthfully in my previous life I did not find water element to be... Interesting. It was too tame, in my opinion, usually if there elementals related things like anime or other I more prefer fire or lightning. Why? Because they are cool, there no need to say anymore. We, men like flashy things after all!

Which is I found it quite annoying that I have water element

I can abandon it and decide to never use water element, however it wouldn't be good things. Chakra is versatile and compatible, you can mold them so freely, this power is so unreal and even can be dubbed Godlike to people that normal or from my original world

But one thing that you must know, Chakra is rooted to Human body, dare to say, the soul and spirit itself. Shinobi and Kunoichi die if Chakra plucked out from their body, a theory that supported by how everyone died in Fourth Shinobi War when Juubi root absorb their Chakra. Chakra already can be considered as life essence to native of this World

And obviously everyone have different soul or spirit

That's why everyone have their own affinity. And no matter how compatible and versatile Chakra is, the nature will always binded to their 'owner' spirit or soul. Though in time the spirit or soul growth and become stronger to able to handle two elements

"Hmm... I quite surprised you have water as second affinity." Genma commented while twitch his toothpick in his lip "I thought it would be Earth seeing you quite often using it."

"That's understanding." I let out small sigh "But I still more often using fire in the end."

"No, I don't think you understand what I try to say here." Genma shook his head and give me look "Haru, when we spar you use more than three elements. And save for Fire all your jutsu is exactly how it should be, they did not weakened at all." His look become more serious "And our battle is not solely depend on Ninjutsu, you not show sign of exhausted after casting them while trading fist with me, heck you even still can cast Genjutsu."

Ah... So it about that...

People indeed can cast different elemental jutsu from their own affinity. However since it pretty much like changing your 'nature' it become complicated, not easy and come with cost. Unless you're special or having bloodline like Sharingan that allow the strain of Chakra cost lesser and Haku's whose capable to mix two elements into one and create new element.

I guess for the former it because Sharingan wielder or Uchiha is direct descendant of Rikudō Sennin, a God -I refuse that he's Human, he's a God, and we, Shinobi also not Human but something else- so I guess their body capable to handle the stress having your 'spirit' shifted for moment more than other.

As for the latter... I think it maybe because of mutation. Chakra already rooted to biology after all, so big change it was mutation, something that happened accidentally.

As for normal Shinobi, they don't have the luxury and so using different affinity cost more Chakra and make them more exhausted, there even some rumor it shortening their lifespan!

Dunno is that bullshit or real, I think it the former seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi master of five elements and looks like doesn't have special bloodline

Then again, maybe it could be caused by a mutation that only happen to him. Meh, I did not particularly care though

Those all I conclude from reading of scrolls that contain knowledge about Chakra that exist in Uchiha private library. Though to be honest, there's nothing much in there safe for things that related to non-battle and only research that quite old and already exist now. It seems Itachi or Obito make sure Uchiha Library and their knowledge to be destroyed so it won't be used in future for wrong cause or oppose him in latter case

Though there's indeed few that left behind and quite important, such as the book about Chakra that I read and give me these information

I can see there deep curiosity and skepticism in Genma eyes, and I can't blame him... Only few people who capable to use so many elements after all, the most famous is Hiruzen Sarutobi while the second is Kakashi Hatake. And while the latter is clear why he can but the former is still mystery to this day.

"I have pretty good amount of Chakra." I stated with shrug "And yes, I know it clearly not enough but that's all I can say, I don't know what else is."

Genma stared at me. His face that usually stoic meet mine, save for the twitch of his lip that rocking his toothpick there's no more muscles that moving. Our gazes seems won't tear from each other for very long time

It broken by him

He let out snort and turned away, leaning back slightly in his seat before shift his gaze back to me "So what do you want to know about water affinity?"

He know I'm lying...

Even if he hide it but the sudden change of topic clearly more than enough to said that. He know I sputtering excuse, and I'm sure he know that I aware of it yet he did not even try to make any comment or remark

A guilt trip perhaps? If he think that would work then sadly it damn work since I now clearly feel uncomfortable

Though it still far from enough to make me spit out the truth to him

"Fire to burn and pain obviously, Earth to defense and crush, Lightning to paralyze and struck innards organ, Wind to cut and sharpening. But water?" I shook my head "I have general idea, but the specific or special one? No."

"Because there isn't." Genma said neutrally, making me blink "Water have no specialty in offensive term. Among five elements, only two that won't do any harm to you even if you throw it at quite excessive number. For example, throw candle that burned and it will burn, give voltage even small and it will make you jolt, throw a pebble and it will harm you." He explained "Wind... In a way, wind and water actually similar. You can stand in front of fan that on and the wind won't do a thing for you, and you can basking in shower for hour and the water won't do a thing to you. But try to the other three and what you get?"

... Yeah, if you put it like that it clearly going to be painful. Just imagining showering rock -small but still rock nonetheless, got flame blown to your face and lightning flowing to you, yeah they obviously not pleasant

"However at same time both of them very versatile compared to other. Such as **Dokugiri no Jutsu (Poison Fog Technique)** and **Mizuame Nabara (Starch Syrup Capturing Field)**. Have you ever seen the other three elements can change their shape like them?"

No... I did not, as far as I could recall, most of those three elements jutsu that I ever seen in anime and in here doesn't have other function than their element main purpose. Fire to burn, lightning to shock, earth to strike. Of course there one that like make people blind by using lightning, but it was part of the element function after all, _light_ning

Compared to water that turned to syrup and trap enemy, followed by air that turned to poison? The difference was quite obvious and big

"... So in essence, water and wind training is similar?" It come out more as statement than question

Genma nonchalant face turned to smirk "I know genius like you will figure it out just with simple explanation."

I take that as a yes then "And it also mean, it actually depend on Chakra control more than quality."

I already master my fire affinity, the training actually complicated but I manage to in the end. Fire is something that exist inside us, people, our body practically produce heat, and that is the source of the element strength. True you need control to maintain such thing but the main one you need is power, quality

Because you going to need very thick wall if you don't want to feel burned by the flame

"The first step." Genma plucked one leaf from branch of plant nearby, tangle it between his index finger and thumb and show it to me, then the dry object suddenly turned to wet. So wet to the point there even water dripping from it "Make this leaf wet, not just normal wet, but one that look like it just dipped to lake." He stated "You already master fire right?"

"You can say so..."

"Then this probably only going to take a day or two for you." Genma grunted "Second step..." He then turned to the plant fully, hand extended, fingers mimicked clawing motion, pointed to the dirt and earth that rooting the plant

Then I feel it

As sensor ninja -even not good one- I still quite sensitive to the shift in the air, to my surrounding. My Chakra actually act like extra 'ears' that capable to hear the 'sounds' -or Chakra- that around me.

I feel there Chakra gathering in his palm, strong but not enough to become visible, they hovering in tips of his hand and then they shift the air, taking fraction of them that water and enchant them, turning them to real and watering the plant

He turned back to me, smug smirk in his face "Take water from the air itself and use it as your power." He stated

Taking water vapor from the air, enchanting them with Chakra and use it for you... Just like when Naruto split the waterfall with only his bare hands, using wind he gather and turn it into very sharp that capable to slice object... That clearly take very big control... Not something that I can't handle with my current skill, however to take a lot amount of water vapor is something else...

You must have pretty damn good control to draw water from air, not to mention the amount of Chakra that needed... It was on different scale, and I mean, really different. I dare to say that you have to rival Jinchūriki for using water vapor to cast technique. Unless you're like Haku who have Ice Bloodline, mixture of wind and water

"It seems you get it." Genma remarked while retract his hand "Yes, this clearly take a lot of control. And it going to be need a lot more than usual to produce enough water to cast jutsu." He said "Not to mention the time you need to draw the water from air and also the amount of Chakra you needed. There's reason why Nidaime Hokage is special after all."

Tobirama Senju... Famous for his water element technique he's the only Shinobi that said capable to create water from air without much problem, even those who have special bloodline cannot match him. His mastery over water element put all Mizukage, a person who led army of killer that specialize in water element, in history and the current one to shame.

"Is there anything else you need to ask?" Genma asked

I put contemplating expression, truthfully I didn't need anymore info since I already get what I want and can start the training. However I know training without supervisor could be dangerous, especially everyone is busy recently due to incoming tournament "Can you watch over my training?"

"No."

Direct refusal! So fast! You are not even considering it in first place aren't you?!

"And you call yourself my teacher?" I asked flatly

Genma shoot me annoying smirk "Training by yourself is part of becoming Chūnin. Beside, it not like you need my watch anyway, you are already Chūnin in Hokage-sama eyes."

I taught myself for my whole life you bloody bastard, and even if I already considered Chūnin but at least help me, where your responsibility as senior ninja?!

"Don't look at me like that, I'm just joking." Genma said in slight amused voice "I will watch over your training, however I only can do that in Monday and Friday."

"Only two times?" I frowned

"Unfortunately, yes." Genma grunted "Right now things pretty much quite troubling. You know what I mean right?" He asked rhetorically "I'm sure you notice it."

... I know what he mean...

It has been almost a week ever since preliminary exam over

During that time there few foreigner that already come to Konoha with intent to watch Chūnin Exam Main Tournament, albeit the numbers still not much. And during that time too, the security become tight

Tight as if very tight. The ANBU, **Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Special Assassination and Tactical Squad)**, Black Ops if you put it in my previous World term, they already begin to make their move

They are subtle, very subtle, as matter of fact I nearly did not aware their existence. It only because I'm Sensor Nin that I know they exist, but even so I have to check their existence twice before I'm sure they were there. And I sure as hell those ANBU also know that I aware of their existence the moment I realize they were there, blending among the civilian, lurking in shadow of the alley, walking among innocence and seeking for prey, for those who dare to threatening Konoha.

"Something happened." I spoke in whispery voice "It related to certain Snake isn't it?"

"Yes." Genma not even seems trying to deny or hide it from me "And yes, it connected to him. Let just say right now we were in quite predicament." He said

I know it... So Hayate has died then, but when? I thought it would be when the Chūnin Exam Tournament near. Moreover if I recall at same time when that happened Gaara also supposed to let his control over Shukaku loss for moment, and since Bijuu Chakra is as subtle as nuke, I doubt I won't sense it giving my ability as Sensor Nin.

...

Then again, that was make sense. There's no way Baki will let Gaara use Shukaku power while he's in Konoha, the whole village will feel it. Unlike Naruto's who have better Seal, I'm sure Gaara's is like what fanfiction describe, mediocre at best.

I mean, Naruto Seal is empowered by Dead God for God's sake! Like Hell there would be other that can challenge it!

So if Gaara use portion of Shukaku power in middle of village without any news, then Suna might as well declare they going to started war from that point since every Sensor Nin in Konoha will be able to sense it, including Hokage and ninja at Jōnin caliber

...

It seems... Things started to become different from Canon...

How... Troubling... Then I better to started my move before things change so much to the point most of my knowledge become useless

Still... What act I should take?

"Since today is Saturday I wouldn't be able to watch your training. I suggest you bring Haku with you, she train under Zabuza for her whole life, I'm sure she can help you." Genma suggested "Bringing her clearly will be more safe in case your training goes wrong."

_Don't go alone, bring someone with you in case you open or vulnerable from your training_

That was the hidden message

"Sure I will." I nodded to him "Thanks Sensei for the tip." I added

"Your welcome, I'm your teacher after all, even if it only for formality but at least I should do what teacher should do." Genma replied with chuckle "Now go away, you bothering my precious break time."

I give him deadpan look "If I didn't know you better I would say you related to Nara."

"Perhaps." Genma snorted in bemusement

I only shake my head, then I use sealless **Shunshin (Body Flicker)** and disappear in burst of smoke

* * *

"This is harder than I thought." I mused aloud as I stare at the wet leaf in my palm

It only several hours after I finished talking with Genma. I immediately contacted Haku to start my training, I'm not one who joking around if it about training after all, the sooner I begin, the better it will be

"It still not completely wet." Haku commented from my side as she also looking at the leaf in my hand "You need to make it completely wet like this Haru-san."

I watched as Haku brought up her leaf's and clasp it. Then one second later she open it and reveal it no longer dry but wet, very wet like Genma's before, with water dripping from it

"This how you do it." Haku said to me "Leaves contain water inside them, so it won't be hard to make it wet. However to flood them is something else."

"... And how long it take you to master that?" I asked as I looking at the pack of leaves that dripping wet in her other palm

"A week."

"I call bullshit on that." I muttered with twitching eyes. Bloodline or not, I don't care! I mean, when I train my fire affinity it take nearly year for me to master it! And in that 365 days never once I taking break or skip from my training!

And this already more than hundred leaves I try! But there almost no improvement! And she finish this only in one week?!

"But that's the truth." Haku sounded quite amused by my response "Though I can understand, Zabuza-sama also surprised at my elements mastery, he said not all my clan show progress like me."

Well... Seeing when you only six or seven years old -or probably less- creating a block of ice that enough to destroy a whole house in canon then I guess you are maybe one of the rarity

I shake my head and take another leaf, closing my eyes, I hold it with both my hands. Okay, shroud the the leaf with Chakra. Feel it. Inject every fiber with it very slowly till reach close to molecule level. Remember water is calm, serene, mend.

After few seconds I release my hands, opening it I see the leaf that wet in there. Inspecting it, I frowned when notice there's almost no different from my other leaves

"You make progress Haru-san!" Haku chirped in jovial voice

"Progress?" I blinked at her. I turned back to the leaf in my palm, scrutinizing my eyes further I find there small and... "How the hell you can tell?" I asked her in bewilderment. It was small! There indeed water come out from the leaf but it so small! Only at size of skin hair perhaps!

"I can sense water around me." Haku answered with serene smile "Part of my bloodline ability. Not far though, but I still can sense it as long it only seven meters from me."

"You can sense water? But..." Well, if I think about it she have Ice Bloodline, and ice is mixture of wind and water, so I guess it kind of make sense. I mean, with strong affinity for wind, she can sense Chakra movement in there even if it small, combined with water...

"It already close to night Haru-san." Haku said as she stared at the sun that slowly set "Shouldn't we go home?"

"No." I shook my head "I want to finish this today." I only start training for less than three hours, that's nowhere close to satisfy me. I mean, I train for eight hours in my routine so... Yeah, this clearly still nowhere enough for me

"I see... But please don't exert yourself Haru-san, it would be quite bothersome to carry you in middle of night."

_Do not training too hard when close to night, if you exhausted too much it will be risky and problematic if got ambushed_

That's what she trying to say and I understand that. Haku as matter of fact already aware that there something happened, she realize it earlier than me that there's ANBU lurking around the village. Perhaps it because from her experience with Zabuza, spying and do such things for her whole life

"Why don't we take a break for now?" Haku offered suddenly

"Huh?" I blinked "Break? Didn't you just said we shouldn't go home late?" If we take a break now then it only going to make the training longer

"True but I'm sure you still going to train until night, so it better if you take small break so you won't be too exhausted." Haku pointed "You already keep going for about three hours after all."

"Well, you have point in there." I muttered as I rub my chin in contemplating manner "Ten minutes then."

Haku in response only smiled and give me nod "That's good."

After saying that I throw away the leaf on my hand and stretched a bit, letting sound while doing that. Sometime it can feels good if you stretching like this

"Why don't you lay down a bit Haru-san?"

"Sure."

I slowly lean myself back and about to rest in the ground, however before I could suddenly I feel pair of hands taking grab of my head, I blinked as I suddenly found myself now laying in Haku's lap

"H-Haku?"

"Don't mind me Haru-san, I just trying to make you comfortable as much as I can." Haku said softly as her hands brushing my brown hair "It my job as your servant after all."

I blinked at her from below then I let out sigh "You don't need to do this you know? I mean..." I gestured to our position, I feel my face heatened a bit

"It's not big deal for me Haru-san."

I only close my eyes and let out sigh, for some reason I don't feels like arguing with her. Her servant complex still there and I don't think it something that I can cure -if that possible- in short time, she's see herself as tool and disposable for her whole live after all

There awkward and slight uncomfortable silence between us that only accompanied by sounds of wind. Haku keep playing with my hair while I only close my eyes and make myself as comfortable as I can. I'm not in mood to talk after all, not with a lot of things in my mind, so I guess I just need to lay down then resume my training after this break

"Haru-san..." Haku called me

Talk about taking break, inwardly sighing I responded "Hmm?"

"I know it maybe not my place to ask this."

I open one of my eyes and found Haku look down at me with troubled look. No, it more like... Concern?

"What is it?" I asked, eyebrow furrowed

"Does something troubling you?" She asked me "I notice that after your visit from Hinata-san place you behave not like your usual self."

... I know I'm not that good in my hiding distress lately, the only reason Sasuke, Naruto and anyone not notice it is because we only spend time together for short. Meanwhile Haku was there, she usually in home and waiting for me to return so I'm not surprised she notice something strange with me

But still... I'm quite curious...

"My usual self?" I inquired

Haku concerned look turned to smile, polite and kind one that she always wear "You are mysterious person Haru-san. You hide so many things." She said in soft voice "But I know that you are person who have ambition, you're not bad but not good as well."

I stare at the black coal eyes that similar like mine, and it remind me that for all her angelic face and personality the woman in front of me probably has kill more than me when she on her journey with Zabuza. She has seen this World with her very own eyes more than me

"You remind me of Zabuza-sama truthfully." She spoke in nostalgic face "However unlike Zabuza-sama, you still considering your heart and feeling."

"... Is that why you decide to serve me?"

"In one way or another." Haku answered in mysterious voice "Zabuza-sama told me to be free, to serve someone who will treat me as person because he can't." She fell silent for moment "It not because he don't want, but the era where he born is different from ours."

I can understand that... Just by watching from the movies it obvious that Zabuza doesn't know how to feels properly. No matter how suffer Haku is, but she still won't be able to understand what Zabuza think. Because he was born in era where war still happen, where Kiri way to graduate ninja academy is to have them killing each other. So he can't admit his feeling because if he did then it went against everything he has working, everything that he has achieve in first place

"But when I see you, I saw him as well." Haku spoke softly "Someone with ambition, but unlike him, you know how to feels..." She trailed off and sounded a bit confused "You know how to be a Human."

Zabuza raised as a tool, a living weapon by his village. It's ironic that he found his Humanity once again by raising another living weapon, however when he rediscover it things already too late and he died

In the end, Zabuza Momochi is only one of victims that produced by this cruel World

"So I ask you Haru-san. No, Haru-sama..." Haku called me with formality "What's troubling you? Please tell me so I can help you, and in a way perhaps I can understand how to be more... Human by understanding your problem."

...

I only silent as I stare at Haku face that show mixture of concern and slight desperation. I did not show any emotion other than staring at her coal eyes that like mine before I closed my eyes again

... What troubling me...

"... Have you ever felt regretting something?" I asked softly "I mean, you has done a lot of things. You know it's wrong, but the result in the end will be worth. But one day, you want to stop. You want to pull away from whatever you doing. However if you do that, if you decide to stop..."

"It already too late." Haku finished for me "You already gone too far, and if you decide to drop it, then all things you achieve will be pointless."

... I don't know what make me open to her like this. I mean, I did it Hiruzen as well, however it because I'm forced to and perhaps... It because I know Hiruzen Sarutobi is the right person to be looked as a role figure. He's strong, firm, and can be vindictive to his enemies, yet he also kind, charming, and so... Human...

And seeing what he capable of... It actually very surprising but not unpleasant...

Yet... Here I am, opening myself, even only slightly to the girl that I only know less in months. I wonder why?

"I felt similar too Haru-sama." Haku said in regretful voice "So many times..."

In instant I know what she mean. Haku dislike killing, no, it would be correct to say she _despise_ it judging by how instead killing Sasuke she left him in coma and near-death state. However at same time she won't hesitate to kill if Zabuza ordered her to

And she... Surely has kill more than me... I'm sure of that...

"I can't offer you good advice Haru-sama because I, myself didn't know what to said." Haku continued "However I want to know that I understand what you feeling, I have went through it so many times and even now there part of me that still regret the path I taken."

"Yet... You still here." I pointed

Haku give me smile, it's beautiful, pretty, and yet also bitter and sad "It because I'm broken."

... Broken...

"Heh."

I merely close my eyes once more, small and bitter smile crossed to my face. I shouldn't surprised by her answer, she's not normal after all, she went through thing that similar like Naruto but unlike him, Haku never treated right. She's molded into a weapon, a perfect tool...

For me who normal... No, I won't say I'm normal either... Not anymore at least... Perhaps part of me already broken after I died for the first time. But there's still many part of myself that clinging together desperately to...

"Thank you..."

That words slipped from my mouth and I don't know why. I mean, I got nothing from this conversation, no information that useful other than Haku personality that I already know. Logically, this conversation give fruit of nothing and yet...

I feel my shoulder lightened slightly

"Your welcome Haru-sama."

There silence once again between us but unlike before, this one is comfortable. I feel her hands caressing my hairs softly and brushing my head slightly, and I won't lie, I enjoy it. The silence broken by me who letting out hum, a soft lullaby that recently I heard when I'm walking around the village

I feel Haku hand's tensed for moment and it make me open my eyes, briefly I caught Haku face that show observing expression for moment before shifted back to her smiling face

What was that? Is it my eyes playing trick on me or...

"Do you want to continue Haru-sama?" Haku asked "Or you want to stay like this longer?"

I stare at her for moment before close my eyes again

"Let's stay like this for a while. Ten more minutes."

* * *

The moon were full tonight...

And unlike one in Earth, this moon is more beauty in my opinion. Perhaps it because the size is obviously bigger than Earth's. That or the distance between moon and this planet is closer than my World

And to think such beautiful gigantic pieces of rock actually a seal for Kaguya? Goddess who wish to enslave the whole Humanity. Heh, kind of mind-blowing in my opinion

It already quite late actually, around 11 P.M. I was sitting in the back of the house, staring at the moon above with hot tea accompanying me

I'm not one who usually staying out in late hour like this, I mean, sure I love tea -it make my mind calm, and I need it lately- but what I did now make me looks like old man!

Well... I'm in middle of forties technically, so I guess I could be called old...

There's no particular reason why I'm out here now. It purely for relaxing, something that I need since my mind lately filled with a mess

The talk with Hiruzen and Haku indeed helping me to make my decision, however I found myself to be... Unsatisfied with the decision I about to make...

I mean, I don't think I should make such decision this fast. I just live in Konoha after all, my knowledge about outside is still limited and I still not experience them yet. It's not something that I can decide so easily, Hiruzen advice is good but obviously he pick Konoha because it's his village and it's his duty as Hokage to led them, so you can say it was a bit biased opinion

Haku meanwhile is something else... She still not fully understand what she felt, she still can't give me the answer because she also seeking for one. And she hope to get it by serving me

In the end, everything come down to me...

I let out sigh, God damnit. I hate to have this kind of problem. It make me looks like emo brooding bastard, I mean, I sure I'm not this emo in my previous life. I never have this kind of problem this far, Gods! Why the hell I can't stay as emotionless and manipulating bastard?!

Then again, it maybe because I am Human no matter what... And Human nature is not cruel or kind, they can be both...

_Red like roses_

?

I perked up when I heard something. What was that? Was that my ears playing trick or-

_It used to feel like a fairy tale._

No, I'm not wrong. There's indeed something and... And it sounds... Familiar... It almost like...

_Now it seems we were just pretending._

It's... Like lullaby that I heard when I was on village few days ago. It was the one that I recently always hum.

_It's like a bedtime story, but there's no a happy ending, only misery ever afer..._

Where it come from? If I can heard it then I'm sure it not very far from here

_I know you didn't plan this, you tried to do what's right._

It become more clear now, even it barely reached to my ears but I can feel it. I'm already close, not close enough but...

_It fills my head with empty dreams and empty wish. So close yet, so far_

So close... I'm so close... Where is it? Where is it?

_Will this nightmare ever stop? Will this misery ever end?_

Red...

That was what I thought as I saw her sitting on top of the roof.

Her hair red almost like a blood, flailed by the cold winds of night. Face surprisingly quite sharp almost like men feature. Eyes brown like oak tree. Lips soft and delicate, contrast of her face shape. Skin fair and smooth.

I stared at her. And she stared at me

Then she smiled

I found it disturbing sight... But at same time... It not unpleasant...

_Red like roses_

Then I feel darkness start to grow from corner of my sight...

* * *

**Umm... Hello? Errr... How you all do? Wow... It has been more than eight monts ever since I update this story, close to nine as matter of fact. Err it clearly quite time and... Sorry?**

**Yeah, sorry for late update to those who fans of this story. Err, I don't have solid reason actually other than my personal life and my steam for this story has decreased. It just increased again recently because I read Naruto fanfiction! XD**

**The reasons why I also late to update is to wait for my whole story to get edited, I mean. My grammar is very bad to the point it become eyesore. But the chapter that edited; Prologue until Chapter 21, is clearly readable at least**

**The problem is, I lost contact with my beta and so the story unlike will be edited. That's why I write this new chapter, in essence I need new beta that willing to edit this story. From chapter 22 to this one of course, if any of you interested please PM me**

**Anyway now that's done, let's talk about this chapter. So yeah, in essence, it talk about Haru's relationship with other, especially Sasuke since in last one they clearly become closer as you all know.**

**However it also show Haru's character further growing and how he handle them. What he currently felt is not something that can be solved in matter of days, no, Haru decision is something that will decide his live, his goal, and moreover his role in the World. It not easy things, and I hope you all like how I potray his troubled feeling in here**

**There small sweet and tender moment between Haku and Haru, I write that scene particularly to show how both of them interact with each other. I mean, after reread the story I found their interaction quite... Lacking in essence, so here you go.**

**As for the end scene... Well I already put some clue actually from beginning. When he train with Sasuke, chat with Naruto and Genma, then finally to Haku. If you caught what I mean then congratulations, you are sharper than most people XD**

**I actually plan to have Jiraiya meet Haru in here but I realize right now Haru and Jiraiya has no 'reason' to meet. There's nothing they can talk about without make they suspicious to each other.**

**That doesn't mean Jiraiya doesn't know Haru existence though**

**Next chapter will show what actually happened to Haru, and after that, one more chapter before we start the tournament!**

**I guess this is it, nothing else to say so... See you all in next chapter!I hope you love this one ! Please give Favorite, Follow, and Review**

**Ja Ne! XD**

**P.S: Guess who the mysterious girl that meet Haru? :3**


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